Diary Recipes

Cocoa Madeleines

I seem to be suffering from cooks block, if there is such a thing, so have not had anything to post, and also we ended up with a 17 pound turkey this year for Thanksgiving, which considering there was 3 of us was rather a lot of turkey. Its been turkey sandwiches allllll week. However, the turkey does seem to be winding down and maybe I will start cooking something again.

These madeleines are adapted from a recipe I found in the Toronto Star many (many) years ago. They were meant as cookies, but I found them sufficiently cake-like that I thought they would make better madeleines. However, if you dont have a madeleine mold, you can revert to the cookie idea. They are a very light and simple cookie and I think they would do well with a chocolate glaze but I have to admit I have thus far never bothered.

12 to 18 madeleines
30 minutes - 15 minutes prep time


butter for madeleine pans
2 eggs, separated
pinch salt
1/3 cup Sucanat or dark brown sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/4 cup soft unbleached flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter the madeleine forms.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in the Sucanat; beat until stiff.

Beat the egg yolks with the vanilla in a smaller bowl, and fold them in with the egg whites.

Mix the flour, cocoa and baking powder, and sift them over the egg whites. Fold in. Drop onto very well buttered madeleine forms and bake for about 15 minutes at 350°F, until just firm. Let cool in the trays for 10 minutes then remove them to finish cooling.

This will make 12 to 18, depending on the size of the molds. You could also drop them free-form onto buttered parchment paper (set on a cookie sheet) and make small, rounded cakes that way. You could glue them together with frosting and call them whoopie pies, even.




Last year around now I made Sweet Potatoes Roasted with Plums & Ginger, and Green Tomato & Turkey Chile.