COMMERCY MADELEINESMADELEINES DE COMMERCY

ladeleines are believed to have been invented in the town ofCommercy, in Lorraine. They first became fashionable around 1730 in Versailles and Paris,thanks to Stanislaus Leszczynski, the deposed king of Poland, father-in-law of King Louis XVof France, and (after 1735) duke of Lorraine. The duke's court at Lunevi/le saw the introduc-tion of a dazzling succession of innovations in the art of pastry, including meringues andrum babas.

Alexandre Dumas, in his Grand dictionnaire de cuisine, fe//s the story of a friend who,on a journey to Strasbourg, arrived late at night in a small village. Exhausted and famished,he found only one building that still had a light burning, and when he knocked at the doorhe was greeted by the local baker. The baker "took out a little basket in which were about adozen beautiful, golden oval cakes, " and watched in delight as Dumas's friend devouredthem all. The traveler then asked, " 'What do you call these succulent little cakes?'

" 'What, you don't know the madeleines of Commercy?'" 'Am I then in Commercy?'" 'Yes, and you may be sure that you have just eaten the best cakes in the world.' "By the end of the nineteenth century, madeleines were popular throughout France, and

many recipes for them had been developed. The version that became known as CommercyMadeleines is made with browned butter, which gives these little tea cakes a beige crumband a slightly nutty flavor. For our taste, these are, if anything, even more delectable thanour "ordinary" (but already quite extraordinary) Madeleines (page 218).

EQUIPMENT

2 madeleine plaques stamped with 12 shell-shaped

depressions, each 3 inches (8 cm) long

A #40 ice cream scoop, a tablespoon,

or a large pastry bag fitted with

• a 9/is-inch (14 mm) plain pastry tube (Ateco #7)

For 24 cookies

BATTER

6 ounces (170 g), or Vi cup plus 4 tablespoons,

unsalted butter

42/3 ounces (130 g), or % cup plus 3 tablespoons,

all-purpose flour

4V2 ounces (125 g), or Vi cup plus 2 tablespoons,

superfine sugar

3 extra-large eggs, separated, at room temperature

Vs teaspoon (V2 ml) lemon extract

1. Melt the butter in a 1-quart (1 L) saucepan, and boil it. Foam will

come to the top. When it collapses, stir to mix. Continue to boil. Soon

bubbles will start to form on the surface, at first large bubbles and then

progressively smaller ones. When the surface is covered with an opaque

foam of tiny bubbles and the foam mounts ©in the saucepan, stir to deflate

it. Boil the butter until a new layer of tiny bubbles forms on top, then stir

to deflate it again. Pour through a fine strainer ©into a bowl. This is beurre

noisette, or browned butter.

2. Stir 1 tablespoon (I1/? cl) of the browned butter with 2 teaspoons

220 THE F R E N C H C O O K I E BOOK

T

(5 g) of the flour, and brush the madeleine plaques (D with it. Let the

remaining browned butter cool, but do not let it thicken and begin to so-

lidify.

Preheat the oven to 475° F (245° C).

3. Sift the flour. Combine the sugar with 1 egg white in your electric

mixer and beat at medium speed with the flat beater. Add the remaining

whites one by one, followed by the yolks, one by one, as soon as the pre-

vious white or yolk is incorporated. Then mix in the lemon extract. Do not

overbeat. Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add the flour. When

mixed, gradually add the browned butter. Transfer the batter to a small

bowl and let it rest in a cool place for 30 to 60 minutes.

4. Spoon 5 teaspoons (21/2 cl) of batter into each shell @ using the

ice cream scoop or tablespoon. Or scoop the batter into the pastry bag,

and pipe the batter © into the shells. (If you have only 1 plaque, keep the

remaining batter in the bowl until the first baking is completed.)

5. Bake on the bottom oven rack until the Madeleines are golden on

top and lightly browned around the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes. Then

unmold them onto a wire rack, turn them hump side up, and let cool to

room temperature.

>* HOWS & WHYS: In order for the Commercy Madeleines to have the

hump on the back, the eggs must be beaten as little as possible. The batter

will be fairly thin, but will thicken a bit as it rests and the butter in it cools.

If you beat the batter too much, the batter will have more volume and be

thicker, but it will not rise properly in the oven and the Madeleines will have

no humps.

We advise against black steel madeleine plaques because they make

the Madeleines brown excessively.

STORAGE: Commercy Madeleines are wonderful fresh from the

oven, but they are noticeably less good even a couple of hours later. Don't

even think about trying to keep them overnight.

S P O N G E C A K E B A T T E R S 221