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Japanese Hamburg Steak

(serves 4)
The Hamburg Steak is the predecessor of the hamburger, before it was turned into a humble sandwich. That’s not to say the Hamburg Steak is simply a hamburger without a bun, for it has many more ingredients, for instance a gravy. In this sense you can think of the Hamburg Steak as a cross between a Salisbury Steak and Bangers & Mash. The city that the most people eat Hamburg steak is not Hamburg as you might expect, but Tokyo; in Japan every family restaurant will serve Hanbagu Steakey and it is cooked at home by every family. My recipe is based this delicious Japanese version of the Hamburg Steak. 

Ingredients

  1. Minced Beef (500g)
  2. Egg (1)
  3. Shallots (5)
  4. Milk (0.5 cup)
  5. Bread (2 slices)
  6. Onion (1)
  7. Oxo Beef cube (1)
  8. Mustard
  9. Worcestershire Sauce
  10. Miso
  11. Sherry
  12. Soya Sauce
  13. Butter

Preparation

 

  1. Leave 2 slices of bread exposed in the fridge overnight to dry out.
  2. Toast the bread on very low heat for 15 minutes to make them ultra crispy and then smash the bread with a mallet into crumbs (in a plastic bag).
  3. Peel and cut 5 shallots in half and julienne them into very thin slices. Peel and cut one onion in half and slice it into thick half rings. If the outmost layer of the onion is thin, you should discard it as it will get burnt before the rest of the onion softens.
  4. Pan fry the shallot slices in 3T of oil on a low flame until you notice a few pieces have turned brown (see picture). Turn off the heat and allow to cool (the shallots will darken further). After some time spoon the shallots and oil into a mixing bowl.
  5. Add one egg, 1/2 a cup of milk, 1T Worcestershire sauce, 1t soya sauce, 1t mustard, 1t salt to the mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the bread crumbs. Next, add the ground beef followed by a sprinkle of 1t white pepper and fold until you get a homogenous mixture. Leave the beef to stand. Do not be concerned if there are any pieces of bread crumb visible.
  6. In the same pan, sauté the onion slices on low heat in 3T of oil until the onion begins to darken.
  7. Dissolve 1 Oxo beef cube and 1t of miso in 1 cup of boiling water. Add the stock to the pan with the onions. Follow up with 1T sherry, 1t sugar, 1t mustard and simmer until most of the water has boiled off and you are left with an onion gravy. Pour the onion gravy into a gravy boat or other vessel.
  8. Separate the ground beef into 4 equal parts with the end of a fork or spoon. Shape each portion into a ball in your hands, which you then flatten into a thick (1 – 1.5 inch) patty.
  9. Add oil to the pan (which you have cleaned) and heat up the pan. When the oil is sizzling hot, place the beef patties into the pan.
  10. Pan fry the beef patties for 6 minutes flipping them every minute or so. After the 6 minutes add 1/3 cup of water and cover – allow the beef to steam for a minute.
  11. Remove the cover and add a large knob of butter. Flip the hamburgs one last time. Turn up the heat. When most of the water has boiled off, plate the hamburgs and pour the pan’s residual liquid into the onion gravy. Spoon the gravy over the beef patties to complete your hamburg steak.

 Notes

  • The staple typically served with Hamburg Steak is steamed white rice or mashed potatoes, rarely fries and never bread.
  • Like other steaks, there will usually also be an assortment of cooked vegetables like carrots, egg plant, tomatoes or string beans. Many of these can be cooked together with the beef in the pan so plan accordingly. A sunny side up fried egg is also typical.
  • If you don’t like the idea of an onion gravy, Hamburg Steak is also be served with a variety of other sauces, like black pepper sauce, mushroom sauce or demi-glace sauce.
  • For the ‘cheeseburger’ version of the Hamburg, you don’t place a slice of cheese on the meat, but insert a block of cheese in the middle of the raw burger.  
  • The Hamburg Steak is supposed to be eaten well done, so don’t try to make them ‘medium’. In Japan they sometimes mix some minced pork with the beef and you definitely want to eat pork fully cooked. Even fully cooked the meat will remain tender and juicy because of the non-meat ingredients and the steaming, so there is no need to worry about your ‘burger’ becoming tough and hard unless you really overcook it a lot.
  • Do not substitute onion bits for the shallots. It won’t impart the right flavour to the beef. 
 
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Posted by on October 5, 2019 in Japanese, Main Courses, Recipe, Red Meat

 

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Chicken Kiev

(serves 6)
Chicken Kiev is the king of chicken breast dishes, the perfect fool proof way of preventing a chicken breast from getting dry. The breast meat is kept moist and juicy because it is stuffed with butter. And when the breast is cut open, the butter serves as a sauce for the dish. No one knows for sure where Chicken Kiev comes from except that it’s not from Kiev. The Russian restaurants seemed to have claimed ownership of this dish while others insist that it was originally a French dish called Cotelettes de Volaille. No matter, it tastes just as good.

Ingredients

  1. Big Chicken Breasts (6 halves)
  2. Butter (140g)
  3. Shallots (4)
  4. Bread (4 slices)
  5. Garlic (3t minced)
  6. Flour
  7. Eggs (2)
  8. Basil
  9. Mint Leaves
  10. Salt
  11. Brown Sugar
  12. Toothpicks

Preparation

  1. Begin by brining your chicken breasts overnight, for about 10 hours, in a solution of 3T Salt, 1T Brown Sugar and 4 cups of water. For details you can refer to this post.
  2. Place 4 slices of bread exposed in the fridge overnight to dry out.
  3. When the 10 hours are up, give the chicken breasts a quick rinse to end the brining process and keep them in the fridge until needed.
  4. Finely chop 4 shallots. Pan fry the shallot bits in 2T of oil on a low flame until you notice a few pieces have turned brown. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. In the meanwhile mince a few garlic cloves until you get 3 semi-heaped teaspoons of garlic.
  5. Put 140g of butter, that’s about two thirds of a block, in a bowl and cut the butter roughly into cubes. A pair of scissors is the best implement for this. Allow the butter to warm until it is soft, then fold in the minced garlic, shallots, 1T chopped mint and 1T of chopped basil. The butter should stay opaque and not be allowed to melt at any time. Spoon the herb butter onto a large sheet of cling film and roll it into a long rod. Keep the butter sausage in the fridge until it is needed.
  6. Toast the bread under very low heat so it doesn’t brown, until it is dry and crisp. Place the bread into a plastic bag and smash it into crumbs using a mallet.
  7. The next step is to cut a cavity into each breast. Start by drying the chicken with a tea towel. Plunge a pointed knife about two thirds of the way into a breast from the bigger end. Carefully scrape the tip of the knife along one side of the cavity a few times in a circular motion to enlarge it. Flip the knife over and do the same to the other side of the cavity. While you are doing this, take extra care at all times not to let the knife pierce out through the surface. At the same time you should do your best not to enlarge the opening.
  8. Cut the butter sausage into six cylinders. Do this while it is still in the cling film. Unwrap one cylinder of butter, halve it lengthwise and push both pieces into the cavity one after another, as far as they’ll go. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining breasts.
  9. Beat two eggs. Cut a one inch piece off the tip off each chicken breast. Dip these trimmings in the egg and after folding or rolling each piece, use them to plug up the openings. Secure each plug with a wooden toothpick. If you inadvertently punctured any of the breasts earlier, you can attempt to ‘repair’ the damage with toothpicks as well.
  10. Coat each breast in flour, taking care to cover every part of the breast, especially the area around the plug.
  11. Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Roll a breast in egg and then the breadcrumbs until it is nicely coated. Put the breast straight into frying pan. Pan fry for about a minute, making sure the entire surface is cooked. A pair of kitchen tongs will be helpful in achieving this. Control the fire to make sure the bread doesn’t get burnt. Leave the breast to rest on a wire tray inside a baking tray. Do the same for the remaining breasts, adding more oil to the pan for each new breast.
  12. Preheat your oven to 175oC (350oF). Place the tray of chicken into the hot over for 20 minutes, or until you notice the chicken begin to shrink.
  13. It’s best to serve the Chicken Kiev straight out of the oven. Sprinkle lightly with white pepper while the chicken is still on the baking tray. Remember to remove the toothpicks after plating.

 Notes

  • Purists will no doubt point out that the proper way to make Chicken Kiev would be to pulverize a butterflied chicken breast into a very thin schnitzel which is then rolled around a slab of butter. This method has its merits but is quite labour intensive. Should you ever choose to try it, you should season the chicken instead of brining it.   
  • Chicken breasts can be plump and roundish or elongated and you should buy the former. I find those from Denmark and Holland are very suitable for stuffing. If the breast is of the elongated type, it will be too flat, making the carving a proper cavity for the butter doubly difficult. 
  • Don’t expect a large amount of melted butter to gush out when you cut the chicken as some of the butter will be infused into the surrounding meat. If you desire more flowing butter, you can increase the amount of butter to a full block. But in order to do this the cavity has to large; maybe you can wait until you have had some practice at cutting cavities into chicken breast before attempting to use more butter. 
  • There is no ‘standard’ herb to use for the butter. You can substitute other herbs of your liking, or even add things like sautéed mushrooms to the butter. I even used a bacon onion dip once instead of butter and it tasted great.
  • If you have a large number of diners, it may be easier to just deep fry your Chicken Kiev in one go instead.  
 
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Posted by on August 21, 2019 in French, Main Courses, Poultry, Recipe

 

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Roasted Spatchcock a.k.a. Butterflied Chicken

(serves 4, or more depending on size of bird)
Spatchcock is a fancy word for butterflying the whole chicken. It sounds hard, but its quite the opposite. There are many advantages to spatchcocking. First and foremost a flattened chicken roasts more evenly, resolving a major issue with roasting chickens for those without a rotisserie; the thighs take longer to cook than the breast, but ironically when you roast a whole bird it is the breast that is more exposed to heat. Spatchcocking exposes the legs more and brings the breast down, saving the day. In addition, a spatchcocked chicken cooks in half the time and is in a more convenient shape for fitting on a fridge shelf.      

Ingredients

  1. Chicken, whole (1)
  2. Onion (1)
  3. Potatoes (2)
  4. Yam (1)
  5. Carrot (1)
  6. Salt
  7. Brown Sugar
  8. Butter
  9. Rosemary
  10. Fennel Seeds

Preparation Part I

  1. You have to begin preparation the night before.
  2. Starting on either side of the bishop’s nose, cut towards the corresponding side of the chicken’s neck (as per the picture below). This is best accomplished using a pair of kitchen shears. You will need to cut through the ribs, but not to worry, these are pretty flimsy in a chicken.
  3. From the inside of the chicken, snip an incision along the cartilage of the breast bone (it is white) top to bottom to weaken it. Be careful not to pierce the skin on the other side.
  4. Flip the bird over and press down on the breast with both hands to flatten it. You should end up with the iconic cartoon heart shape chicken breast.
  5. Prepare a brining solution using 1T salt, 1t brown sugar for every two cups of water. Make enough brine to ensure the entire chicken is submerged. Brine the chicken for 8 hours. If the weather is warm, either add a some ice every once in a while or leave the brining bird in the fridge.

Preparation Part II

  1. When the brining is done (presumably the next day), place the bird on a wire tray to dry (as shown below). This will take several hours and again is best done in the fridge. Alternatively you can use a portable fan.
  2. You must dry the bird properly for it is the key prerequisite to a properly roasted chicken. The chicken is considered sufficiently dry when you put a piece of kitchen towel on it and the paper remains dry but sticks to the skin like a second skin.
  3. In a small pan, heat 1 heaped t of dried rosemary, 1 heaped t of fennel seeds in 4T of oil until you can smell a strong aroma. Turn off the heat before the herbs get burnt. Leave the pan on the stove while the chicken is drying; more herb flavour will be infused into the oil.

Preparation Part III

  1. Cut the potatoes and the yam into chunks. Depending on the variety you may want to peel them first. The yams should be double the size of the potatoes as they cook faster.
  2. Cut the carrot into discs and the onion into small wedges. Place all the vegetables on a baking tray.
  3. Preheat the oven to 205oC (400oF).
  4. Reheat the infused oil. When the oil becomes less viscous, strain the oil into a container. Add a large knob of butter to the oil. Next dissolve half a t of salt in the butter-oil mixture. Drizzle half of this mixture over the vegetables using a spoon.
  5. Position the chicken over the vegetables on the tray. Make sure all the vegetables end up under the chicken as any piece left exposed will become burnt beyond recognition.
  6. Paint the remainder of the oil-butter mixture on the chicken with a brush.
  7. Place the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes, 50 minutes if it is a bigger bird.
  8. When the chicken is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven without turning it off. Place the chicken on a large serving plate to rest after giving it a light dusting of pepper.
  9. Roll the vegetables about in the tray to cover them with drippings, space them evenly and place the tray back in the oven for around 10 minutes. When the vegetables have caramelized sufficiently, arrange them around the chicken on the plate. Pour any remaining drippings over the chicken and serve.

Notes

  • As you can see from the pictures, the legs were open at an angle while drying but became parallel to each other after cooking as the meat contracted. Purists will secure the chicken with 2 long metal skewers in an X pattern, from the left thigh through to the right breast and vice versa to keep the chicken completely flat. This also helps all the skin brown more evenly. I think its a bit of an overkill, but skewers are definitely a good idea when BBQing.
  • My brining mixture is a relatively weak one as we are brining the whole chicken and not just the breast. If you like your roast chicken on the salty side, you can double the salt in the butter-oil mixture to a full teaspoon.  
  • The back and spine that is cut out is good for boiling stock. If you don’t need it concurrently, you can wrap it in cling film and freeze if for later.
 
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Posted by on February 8, 2019 in English, Main Courses, Poultry, Recipe

 

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Seared Scallops with a Duxelles Wine Sauce

(serves 4 – 6)
This recipe pairs Scallops with its traditional complimentary ingredients, such as mushrooms, wine and cream,  a combination that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Searing on a flavoursome crust is a great enhancement to pleasant but somewhat monotonous scallop flesh, but somehow when you sear scallops at home it never turns out quite right. To make seared scallops to restaurant standard there is no complicated technique involved. All you need is the right ingredients and the proper procedure ….     

Ingredients

  1. Large Scallops (18)
  2. Onion (1)
  3. Mushrooms (200g)
  4. Garlic (1T minced)
  5. Mustard
  6. Coriander Seed Powder
  7. White Wine (0.33 cup)
  8. Cream (0.5 cup)
  9. Tarragon
  10. Butter
  11. Lemon

Preparation

  1. Defrost your scallops ahead of time.
  2. Prepare a brine of 1T salt, 1t sugar, the juice of a wedge of lemon in two cups of water. Place the scallops in the brine for twenty minutes. Do not go beyond twenty minutes or the scallop flesh will become too salty.
  3. Rinse the scallops and wrap them in a tea towel to dry them as much as possible. Leave them there until step 7.
  4. Julienne the onion and dice the mushrooms into 1cm pieces. Mince a few cloves of garlic.
  5. Fry the onion pieces in a pan on a low fire with a dash of oil until they are limp, but not caramelized. Add 1T of minced garlic and stir fry for 1 minute further.
  6. Turn the heat up and add the wine, followed by the cream and 1t mustard, 1t coriander seed powder and 0.5t sugar. Stir till the mustard melts away and then add the mushrooms. Simmer until the liquid dries off enough to produce a thick sauce. Sprinkle on black pepper and salt to taste to complete your duxelles sauce.
  7. In a different pan melt a large knob of butter on high heat. When the pan is really hot and the butter darkens a bit, place half the scallops in the pan, and keep them cooking on the same side. Move the scallops around in a circular motion one at a time with tongs but do not flip them. Add more butter if the pan begins to dry. When you notice the searing along the bottom edges flip each scallop over and repeat the procedure until the other side gets seared too, then remove the scallops onto a plate temporarily.
  8. Sprinkle a pinch of tarragon on to the mushroom duxelles and begin reheating it.
  9. Do the same as step 7 for the second batch of scallops after adding a new knob of butter. When this lot is done, turn the fire off and add the first batch of scallops back into the pan. Stir fry for a short while with the fire off to coat the sides of the scallops. This will also serve to warm up the first batch.
  10. Spoon some of the duxelles sauce on each plate to form a bed for the scallops and then arrange three (or four for four servings) scallops on each bed. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • There is no point in buying fresh scallops, the frozen ones will do nicely. You should however buy the more expensive ‘dry’ (not to be confused with dried) variety that are frozen without additional processing. You can identify these by their colour, which is ivory white. ‘Wet’ scallops are those that have been soaked in sodium tripolyphosphate to bloat their size. Thus type of scallop is toothpaste white because of the bleaching effect of the phosphates, and they shrink when cooked anyway. If you are unsure, you can’t go wrong with scallops from japan that come in a paper box.
  • Do not skip the brining. This is essential for two reasons. Firstly, it is the only way to put taste inside the scallop instead of on its surface; this is very important for big scallops. Secondly this removes extra water from scallops; if there is too much internal water, the scallops will get fully cooked and rubbery before they even start searing.
  • You cannot use vegetable oil to sear the scallops. Butter contains impurities which starts the browning process.
  • I did not specify a cooking time because this will vary with the thickness of the scallops and how well you like them cooked. I like to cook my scallops medium like steak so they don’t shrivel up, but its up to you. Use a lower fire and pan fry for longer if you like your scallops more cooked.
  • I made the diced potatoes in the photo separately, and they are not part of the recipe per se.
 
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Posted by on November 14, 2018 in Appetizers, French, Recipe, Seafood

 

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Chicken A La King

(serves 3)
Chicken A La King is simple conceptually, but it is one of the most difficult dishes to perfect. My mom taught me how to make this the standard way when I was young and over the decades I’ve developed my own improved method of preparing Chicken A La King, one that has superior flavour and at the same time avoids all your typical A La King problems (see notes). I have yet to taste a better version in any restaurants I’ve tried – something I can’t say about any of my other recipes. 

Ingredients

  1. Chicken Legs with Thigh (2)
  2. Capsicum a.k.a. Bell Pepper (1)
  3. Brown Mushrooms (150g)
  4. Leek (1)
  5. Milk (1 cup)
  6. Butter (100g)
  7. Flour (3T)
  8. Anchovy in Oil (10g)
  9. Chicken Stock Cube (1/2)
  10. Cream Cheese (1T)
  11. Worcestershire Sauce
  12. Sherry
  13. Coriander Seed Powder
  14. Cooked Rice (4 cups)

Preparation 

  1. Pour 1 cup of milk in a cup and spoon 1T of cream cheese into a bowl, to let them warm up.
  2. Fry 2 slivers of anchovy in its oil in a pot until you can mash the anchovy into a fine suspension. Add 3 cups of water and half a chicken cube and bring to a low simmer.
  3. Cut the leek in two and put the top (green) part into the stock pot. Slice the bottom portion lengthwise into half, then cut into 1/8 inch thick half rings. Cut the mushroom into 1/4 inch thick slices. Cut the capsicum into 1/2 inch squares; making sure you discard all the seeds and white pulp.
  4. Debone the chicken legs and add the bones to the stock pot. Cut the meat into bite sized chunks – its more important that the pieces of chicken are of the same thickness than of the same volume. Place any excess flaps of skin into the stock pot.
  5. Mix 1T of oil, 1T Worcestershire sauce, 1t coriander seed powder, 0.5t salt in a large bowl. Put the chicken chunks into the bowl and mix well.
  6. Stir fry the leek pieces in a large pan with some oil on low heat until they begin to go limp. Turn up the fire and push the leek to one side of the pan.
  7. Add the chicken when the pan is really hot and stir fry until no visible part of the chicken is raw. Then combine with the leek and continue to stir fry until the chicken is cooked (i.e. shrunk a bit like the first photo). Move the chicken to a temp container.
  8. Melt 70g (1/3 of a standard block) of butter in the same pan on low heat. Spoon in 3T of flour and stir fry until the flour begins to darken. Very slowly add the cup of milk a bit at a time while stirring continuously with a flat spatula to combine all three ingredients. When all the milk is used up, continue the process by adding the hot chicken stock instead. Finally, stir the cream cheese into the sauce. When you are done you should have a smooth velvety white sauce.
  9. Add the diced capsicum to the sauce and continue to simmer, until the capsicum is no longer rigid. This will take a while, perhaps 10 minutes, add hot water as needed. Next add the mushrooms and 1T of sherry. When the mushrooms begin to shrink, add the chicken and simmer for 1 more minute. Sprinkle on black pepper and taste the sauce to see if salt is required.
  10. Serve with steamed white rice, topped with a knob of butter.

Notes

  • Capsicums comes in 4 different colours which have different tastes. Red is sweet and easiest on the taste buds, Green is an acquired taste as it is less ripe and bitter. Orange and yellow capsicums are in between the two. A mixture of two types would be visually pleasing if you are cooking a double portion.
  • If you are using chicken breasts instead of legs, you should brine them first. There will be no need to marinate the brined chicken pieces as they are already salty.
  • Chicken A La King is supposed to be served with steamed white rice. If you don’t have rice, the other permissible option for Chicken A La King is puff pastry cups (a.k.a. vol au vent). I am against serving it with bread or pasta as some websites show. 
  • How is my recipe different from the commonly used ones?
    • 1. Cooking the chicken separately under a high heat will remove any freezer taste.
    • 2. Using chicken stock enhanced with anchovy brings out the flavour of chicken in the white sauce.
    • 3. The extended cooking time for the sauce removes any residual taste of flour and fully infuses the sauce with the taste of the capsicum.
 
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Posted by on February 20, 2018 in English, Main Courses, Poultry, Recipe

 

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Lemon Orange Madeleines

(Makes 30)
A Madeleine is classic French Genoise-style sponge cake that is the size of a large cookie. Miniaturizing the cakes has the desirable effect of increasing the crust to internal volume ratio. At the same time Madeleines are characterized by a moist centre with a unique rich nutty-buttery taste, although my particular version has a strong citrus kick to it as well. You can recognize a Madeleine easily because of its iconic shape, an elongated scallop shell with a ‘hump’ below. Madeleines are best served any time you are drinking coffee or tea.    
 

Ingredients

  1. Eggs (3)
  2. Butter (130g)
  3. Flour (1 cup)
  4. Plain Sugar (1/2 cup)
  5. Icing Sugar
  6. Lemon (1)
  7. Orange Marmalade (3T)
  8. Bicarbonate of Soda
  9. Vanilla Essence

This recipe does not require, but is best made using special scallop shell pans.

Preparation 

  1. Start by browning 130g of butter. Melt the butter in a small pan on low heat. After a while white particles will appear on the surface of the liquid butter. Next the butter will start to froth. At this point immediately pour the melted butter into a second pan to prevent it from going from browned to burnt. Allow to cool.
  2. Spoon 3T of marmalade into a bowl to allow it to warm to room temperature.
  3. Grate the skin of 1 lemon to get 1t of zest.
  4. Whisk 3 eggs with half a cup of sugar, the lemon zest, 1t vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens and is foamy. This should be about 5 minutes by hand or 1 minute with an electric hand blender.
  5. Mix half a flat t of bicarbonate of soda into 1 cup of plain flour. Sift the flour into the egg mixture, folding the flour regularly into the mixture to prevent lumping.
  6. Cut the zested lemon in half and squeeze it to obtain 3T of juice. Combine the juice with the marmalade and then stir the resulting citrus syrup into the batter.
  7. Reserve 3T of the melted butter and add the remaining butter to the batter 1T at a time, fold each time to incorporate the butter into the batter before adding more. Rest the batter in the fridge for a minimum of one hour, covered with cling film.
  8. Mix 1T flour into the reserved butter and brush your Madeleine pans with this. Place the pans into the fridge as well, for a minimum of ten minutes.
  9. Preheat your oven to 160oC (320oF).
  10. Take the batter and pans out of the fridge. The batter should be the consistency of a thick milkshake. Spoon 1T of batter into the centre of each mould in your pan. Do not fill the moulds all the way to the rim (see photo above) as you need room for the batter to expand without spilling out.
  11. Place the pan in the oven for about 8 minutes. The time will vary slightly from oven to oven, and it will take more time for multiple pans and less time for incomplete pans, so you need to keep watch as they bake. The first sign to look out for is when the characteristic camel humps develop (see photo on right) on your madeleines. Soon after the edges will start to brown. Take them out one minute after this.
  12. Flip your madeleines onto a cooling rack and dust lightly with icing sugar while they are still hot. This icing (i.e. powdered) sugar will eventually dissolve in the butter of the madeleine to form a glaze so do not skip this step.

Notes

  • The Madeleine was popularized to the world by the French writer Marcel Proust who wrote about eating it and the memories it triggered. Despite its simple look, this little cake is one of the quintessential petit fours, of equal standing with the Canele and the Macaron. 
  • The ribbed side (facing down in the pan) will tend to darken faster than the hump side, which is the biggest challenge in Madeleine making. This is why the pans must be chilled beforehand, to help counteract this. Supplementary techniques you can try would be using the top rack of your oven or placing a (metal) baking sheet below the Madeleine pan. All this will alter the baking time, so rely on your eyes and not the clock.
  • If you don’t get the camel hump, then your oven is not hot enough – or you didn’t chill your batter. If there is no hump, its not a real Madeleine.
  • You probably cannot make all 30 Madeleines in one go so plan ahead to split the baking into 2 or more equal batches.
  • The bicarbonate of soda is a raising agent. If you are using self raising flour, skip the bicarbonate of soda and use only half the lemon juice.
  • You can stack 2 buttered madeleine trays by turning one of them ninety degrees.
  • Replace the Marmalade with soft brown sugar to make ‘regular’ Madeleines.
  • If you don’t have Madeleine pans, you can use mini-muffin trays, though you will end up with round cakes. Do not spoon more than 1T of batter into each depression even though they are deeper.
 
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Posted by on December 3, 2017 in Desserts, French, Recipe

 

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