FFwD - Honey Spiced Madeleines

These are my honey-spiced madeleines.  Sad don't you think?  The flavor was good...I got a few ridges...they're kind of a disaster though.  The sticking was only one of the problems.  The texture was off.  I had no honey on hand so used brown sugar and agave syrup.  Maybe that's why they stuck.  There was simply no 'rapping' or 'gently prying' them out of the pan.  I had to dig them out!

I've made madeleines several times with only minor sticking problems.  I think it was the idea of having to photograph them.  It made my madeleines insecure about their appearance.

Since I didn't want to be defeated I decided to try again.  I was going to use Dorie's Classic Madeleine recipe because the honey-spiced ones were tasty but I like the light pure flavor of the classic madeleines. Then my new Bon Appetit arrived with an Orange-Blossom-Honey Madeleines recipe and I decided to give it a go because I have this goal of cooking at least one recipe from every food magazine that comes to my house.

These stuck only a tiny bit and I was able to 'rap' and 'gently pry' most of them out of the pan.  I was running out of light so didn't get a photo but I even got one perfect madeleine with the bump!  I wonder if the sticking issue was due to the agave syrup/brown sugar combo or because I chilled them in the pan.  On the second try I chilled the batter before filling the pans.

One bump out of 22 madeleines made from the same batter in the same pans and baked in the same oven. Makes me wonder if the bump has something to do with how the pan is filled.  I need to ask my pastry chef friend if that is the secret!  And by the way...these madeleines are very good but the orange blossom aspect might be over rated.  Any honey would do!


You'll want to go by the French Friday site and see what the other FFwD cooks are up to.