Paula Wolfert's Madeleines from Dax

These could also be known as My Bumpless Madeleines. The recipe was excerpted from Paula Wolfert's The Cooking of South-West France (which is being reissued now, and is gorgeous) in an article from the LA Times this summer about Wolfert's house and life in Sonoma. While I worship at the altar of Wolfert, these madeleines didn't really cut it.

I feel terribly about what I'm about to do. Criticizing a recipe of Paula Wolfert's! She of the melting Fork-and-Knife Kale, the miraculous sardine-avocado toasts, the endless discussion threads on eGullet... I do not venture into this uncharted territory lightly. But it is my duty as a recipe-testing blogger to tell the truth. So the truth is, these madeleines had no bump. And a bumpless madeleine isn't much more than a cookie with a fancy name.

Sure, the little suckers tasted okay. But delicious they were not. And I'm no madeleine virgin. In fact, a few years ago, I made a batch that, glorious bump and all, were revelations after years of eating packaged Madeleines de Commercy. (Of course, now, for the life of me, I can't remember where I put that recipe. I'll find it, never fear.) Wolfert's bumpless madeleines had the correct, barely dusty texture, but the flavor was oddly flat and, dare I say it, almost greasy.

1. First, I beat together 2 eggs, a pinch of salt and 5 1/2 tablespoons of sugar until the mixture was thick and light (6-7 minutes). Then I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of orange flower water and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, whisking gently to combine.

2. I sifted 5 1/2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour with 5 1/2 tablespoons of cake flour and 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking powder together, twice. I gradually stirred this into the egg mixture. I added 5 tablespoons of clarified butter that had melted and cooled, plus 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. I stirred the batter gently until smooth. The bowl was covered with plastic and refrigerated overnight.

3. The next day, I heated the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and buttered the hollows of a madeleine pan. I filled the pan 2/3 of the way full, then rapped it against the table to let the batter settle. I baked the madeleines for 5 minutes, then lowered the oven temperature to 325 degrees, and baked for 6 minutes more, until the edges were browned and the madeleines were golden.

4. After removing the pan from the oven, I loosened each cookie with the tip of a knife and cooled them on a rack. The recipe indicates that it will yield 18 (3-inch) cakes or 24 (2-inch) cakes.

Comments

[Adrienne]

Isn't it so disappointing when a recipe doesn't work out just so, especially when it's by a favorite? But I guess even the greats are entitled to a bad day.

[mumu]

Nonetheless, the picture looks dreamy!

[Luisa]

Mumu - thank you!

Adrienne - I think I just might be ornery about madeleines having a bump. Everyone who tried them thought they were great (bah humbug, I say, they just don't know what they're really missing).

[Jennifer]

When you've had the "best" of a certain dish or preparation, it's almost impossible to accept a mediocre version of the same... and from Wolfert, no less! I guess it is heartening to know that no one is perfect.

[LisaSD]

I had my first madeleine today (I know, I know)...a chocolate one. I would be very interested in that good recipe when you find it!

[Luisa]

Lisa - I think I might have found it last night, but I need to make sure (it's ridiculous how many madeleine recipes I have!).

Jennifer - you're absolutely right, that's a good way of looking at it.

[tanvi]

I love madeleines, and yours look gorgeous! I really must get a madeleine pan so I can make them at home. Thanks for sharing the recipe :-)

[Margarita]

I just finished making this same recipe this morning and I completely disagree with this reviewer of Paula Wolfert's Madeleines from Dax. First of all, mine came out with the bump, the texture was spongy (as they aught to be), the flavor not flat, and they were not greasy at all!

After reading through this blogger's step by step instructions, I noticed that she used 5.5 tablespoons of sugar INSTEAD of 5 tablespoons of superfine sugar. Combining these she overbeat the eggs because they were meant to be whisked for ONLY 2 minutes.

Then the reviewer omitted 1/4 of the baking powder (this is the part that is really responsible for the bump) so a FULL teaspoon needed to be used, NOT 3/4! Then, only once the dry ingredients have been gradually added into the egg/salt/sugar mixture does Paula Wolfert add the vanilla extract, the orange flower water, the clarified butter, and the heavy cream! The only thing she actually does here according to the recipe is place the batter in the refrigerator overnight.

At the end, this reviewer bakes correctly for the first five minutes but the second part where the temperature is lowered, she omits at least an entire minute. I baked for 7-10, according to the recipe.

The moral here is that this reviewer doled out useless information due to the fact that she failed to follow the recipe as it was written! How on earth did she expect to get a good result? She doesn't think that Paula Wolfert works in her test kitchen to perfect these recipes before she puts them into a book? Unless this reviewer is a professional chef herself, she should stick to following the recipes exactly and only then commenting about her results!

[Jenny]

Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times had this to say about Paula Wolfert's madeleines that he tasted at her house in Sonoma...."They're denser than most and less sweet, more cakelike than airy, like the difference between a great doughnut and a Krispy Kreme"