French Madeleine cookies.

Madeleine is a French cookie cookie of small size, usually in the shape of scallops. It is an enduring success in France and Europe in general. Its world fame «madeleines» owes to Marcel Proust's novel «In Search of Lost Time», where in one of the most famous scenes of world literature the main character dips a cookie in tea - and for hundreds of pages is transported back to his childhood, with which he forever associates the taste of this cookie.
. When I first saw this cookie, I thought it was some kind of defective cookie - because of the bloated slide on the back side. Now I know it's a classic French cookie, and it's that slide, called a "sail" that makes it a true "Madeleine" cookie. The dough is made along the lines of a regular biscuit dough, only it "rises" overnight, then is baked. And it is cool - you can prepare the dough in the evening, and in the morning in 30 minutes bake a mountain of cookies and call your family for a fragrant breakfast.
They eat "madeleines" dipping them in sugar syrup with liqueur or rum - the biscuit, like a sponge, absorbs the syrup and becomes very soft, juicy and literally melts in the mouth.
By the way, if you don't have special shell molds, you can make these cookies in muffin molds, filling them with 1,5-2 teaspoons of dough - it won't affect the taste and you can treat yourself to soft cookie French cookies.
To anyone who's interested, I'll tell a little bit of the history of how these cookies came to be. If history has never been your hobby, then you can safely skip to the list of ingredients and the cooking process.
Despite the fact that "madeleines" are considered a French cookie, their history began with the Poles. Once in 1755 Polish king Stanislaw Leszczynski gave a ball in Paris, but suddenly his cook fell ill. So that the guests were not left without a treat, a clever maid quickly prepared cookies in the form of shells according to her grandmother's recipe. The dessert made a sensation among the guests, so it was decided to name the cookies after the girl's name – Madeleine. Maria Leszczynska – Queen of France and wife of Louis XV, passed the recipe “Madeleine” to the confectioners of Versailles and this cookie appeared on the table of King Louis. At that time France unconditionally dictated the fashion for almost everything, so the exquisite, and at the same time easy to prepare cookies became the favorite dessert of the European nobility.
Even the “Culinary Dictionary” by Alexandre Dumas describes this cookie, because at that time “Madeleine” was already served to the table in every decent house in France.

Alexandre Dumas's “Culinary Dictionary” describes this cookie.

madeleine

Composition (about 20 pieces)

eggs - 250 gr. (about 4,5 pcs.)
sugar - 250 gr.
chestnut honey - 12 gr.
half a vanilla pod
flour - 250 gr.
cream butter - 250 gr.
leavening agent - 10 gr.
zest of 0.5 lemon

Preparation of cookies "Madeleine":

Sift the flour with the baking powder. Melt the butter over low heat and lightly calcify. If the butter is just melted, the cookies will be very greasy.

Make the cookies.

butter in pan

clarified butter

Cool the butter to 50 degrees.
Beat eggs with sugar, honey and vanilla seeds.

Whisk together.

eggs, sugar and honey

If you don't have chestnut honey, use linden honey or any other honey that doesn't have an intense odor.

egg mass

Pour the flour and butter into the egg mixture and mix well.

batter

butter dough

Then add the lemon zest and mix thoroughly.

dough with zest

Transfer the dough to a container, cover with food wrap so that it is in contact with the surface of the dough, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

madeleine dough

Lubricate the madeleine molds thoroughly with butter and sprinkle with flour.

madeleine mold

Transfer the finished dough into a cooking bag and drop it into the molds, filling them only one-third full, lengthwise of the mold.

madeleine dough after aging

madeleine dough in mold

Place the mold with the dough in a preheated 220 degree oven for 3 minutes. Then turn the oven off - this will allow the madeleines to rise evenly. Be careful, once the cookies are golden in color (after 8-10 minutes), turn the oven on to 160 degrees and keep the cookies for about 5 more minutes to allow them to dry out slightly.

Be careful, once the cookies are golden in color (after 8-10 minutes), turn the oven on to 160 degrees and keep the cookies for about 5 more minutes to dry out slightly.

madeleines in shape

Take the hot madeleines out of the mold and transfer to a platter. If desired, the cookies can be sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

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