Madeleines are traditionally light little sponge cakes, but these Chocolate Madeleines are a lot richer. Covered in a chocolate glaze, they will definitely satisfy any chocolate lover.
What are Madeleines?
Since these little confections are cookie-sized, many people think they're cookies. But in fact, they are mini cakes, soft and springy. They're baked in a specialty pan which gives them the distinctive ridges on one side.
On the non-ridged side of the madeleines, there should be a characteristic "bump" from the batter rising well in the pan. With this chocolate version of the recipe, the bump is not as pronounced because of the richness of the batter, but you will be able to see some mounding in the center.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Coating these in a chocolate ganache glaze amplifies the chocolate factor by about a million. Although the cakes by themselves are chocolatey, they will take in some moisture from the glaze and become even more delicious.
The glaze is very thin going on, but after it cools, it will set and become more like a matte chocolate shell.
Reverse Creaming Method
This batter is put together with the reverse creaming method, which was created by Rose Levy Beranbaum in her book, The Cake Bible. In this method, rather than beating the butter and sugar together at the beginning, you will add the soft butter to the dry ingredients, and then add the wet ingredients after it is mixed in.
The big advantage of this method is that the butter protects the batter from being overmixed. When cake batter is overmixed, the gluten in the flour activates and the resulting cake will have a rubbery texture. Rubbery madeleines don't sound the most appetizing! (Maybe they'd bounce??)
Making the Batter
After you preheat the oven and grease and flour the madeleine baking pan, you'll mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt all together in a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Then, mix in the room temperature butter until you can't really see it anymore, and it looks like a crumbly texture.
Then, you'll mix the sour cream, egg, and vanilla together, and add in the cocoa powder. This will give the cocoa powder a chance to activate in the liquids. After you mix that together (it will be slightly lumpy), add it to the flour mixture in three stages, mixing well each time you add more.
Once your batter is complete, you can pipe it into the madeleine pan with a piping bag or zip-top bag, or use a spoon. You'll want to fill the molds about halfway full, since they will rise to fill the whole thing.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
While the madeleines are baking, you can make the chocolate ganache glaze. Finely chop the chocolate (I actually like to use a parmesan cheese grater for this) and add it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and then pour it over the chopped chocolate all at once.
Let it sit for a few minutes so that the warmth from the cream starts to melt the chocolate. Then, you can use a spatula or an immersion blender to beat the ganache until it is completely smooth.
You'll drizzle, spoon, or even paint the glaze onto the fully baked madeleines. Obviously I went for the messy method here! The glaze will go on shiny, but firm up and have a matte look it cools.
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Any chocolate lover will enjoy these gooey, fudgy Brownies
- Also straddling the line between mini cake and cookie, these Butterscotch Chewy Cookies are deliciously satisfying
- Snickerdoodle Bars are full of cinnamon flavor and coated in an icing drizzle
Did You Make This Recipe?
I would love to hear from all of you chocolate fans! How did you like the recipe? I would appreciate it so much if you could leave a review below!
Chocolate Madeleines
Equipment
- Madeleine pan
- Medium bowl
- Piping bag (optional)
- Stand mixer (optional)
- Rotary cheese grater or mini food processor (optional - for grating chocolate)
- Microwave safe container or small saucepan
Ingredients
Madeleine Batter
- 20 g Dutch process cocoa powder (¼ cup)
- 80 g sour cream (⅓ cup)
- 1 egg room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 75 g cake flour (¾ cup)
- 100 g sugar (½ cup)
- ⅜ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine grain salt
- 100 g unsalted butter room temperature (7 Tbsp)
Ganache Glaze
- 40 g dark chocolate 60-65% cacao
- 85 g heavy cream (¼ cup)
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C/gas mark 4).
- Spray the madeleine pan with baking spray, or grease and then flour the pan, making sure to get in each crevice.
Make the Madeleine Batter
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Add the cocoa powder and whisk to combine. It will be slightly lumpy.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the beater attachment, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low until well combined.
- Add the room temperature butter to the flour mixture. (It needs to be very soft, or you will end up with lumps of butter in your batter.) Mix on low until all the butter is worked into the flour, and it is a coarse, sandy texture.
- In three separate additions, add the cocoa mixture to the flour mixture, beating well to combine after each addition.
- Halfway fill a large piping bag or other food-safe bag with the batter, and cut off the tip. Pipe the batter into the madeleine pan molds, filling each mold about halfway full. (You can also use a spoon or cookie scoop to fill the molds, just smooth the batter out on top after you fill.)
- Bake the madeleines for 14-15 minutes, or until they spring back when lightly pressed. The internal temperature will be 205°F (96°C).
Make Ganache Glaze
- While the madeleines are baking, make the glaze. Finely chop the chocolate, or you can use a mini food processor or a rotary cheese grater to process it into very fine pieces.
- In a microwave safe container or a small saucepan on the stove, heat the heavy cream until just before it boils.
- If you used a food processor, you can slowly pour the cream directly into the bowl of the processor as it is running, and your glaze will be complete.
- If you did not use a food processor, add the cream to a heatproof bowl and then, all at once, add the chocolate to the cream. You can poke down all the chocolate so it goes underneath the surface of the cream.
- Wait for about 5 minutes, and then vigorously beat the cream and chocolate mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon. You will end up with a very shiny and thin ganache.
Glaze the Madeleines
- Once the madeleines are done baking, let them cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before trying to take them out of the molds. Carefully take them out, using a toothpick to push them from one side if they get stuck.
- Place the madeleines on parchment paper and glaze them. You can use a food-only paintbrush if you want to be neat about it, or pour it on with a spout or spoon if you want to be chaotic like me. Once the first layer of glaze has set, you can go back and do another coat if you want.
Store
- These madeleines will keep at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the refrigerator about a week, as long as they are in an airtight container.
- You can also freeze them in an airtight container for about 2 months.
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