Savory Madeleines

You know how food people are. We could talk about ideas for cooking and baking all day. An exchange on Twitter with Nurit from 1 Family Friendly Food led to an email conversation which ended up being about baking madeleines. Neither of us had ever baked them, and we wished we could have spent an afternoon baking together, but since we live many miles apart, we did a virtual bake-along. I had an idea about trying a savory madeleine, and Nurit wanted to try a sweet variety. See her blog for delicious orange madeleines. My quest for savory madeleines led me to Martha where I found her recipe that could be made into three different flavors. I opted to bake just two of those flavors and ended up with sage madeleines and sun-dried tomato madeleines.

I don't know why I was so worried about baking these. For some reason, I thought there was something tricky about getting the cakey cookies to be shaped properly, or to get them to come out of the pan. I know that for some, the hump on the top of the madeleine is a requirement, but these only formed a small hump which deflated a little as they cooled. I might just blame that on them being made with cornmeal and having chopped herbs or tomatoes in them. Other than there being not much of a hump, the shape came out fine. I buttered the pans well before spooning in the batter even though the pans I used are non-stick, and there was no problem removing them. In fact, they slid right out easier than anything I've ever baked. This really was a simple recipe all around. Flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, and a little sugar were whisked together in a medium bowl. Milk, eggs, and slightly browned, melted butter were incorporated. Then, the batter was divided into two parts in separate bowls although the original recipe suggests three parts. To one part, finely chopped sage was added, and to the other, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes were added. Then, it's suggested that the madeleine cups be filled only three-fourths full. I was a bit heavy handed, and filled mine pretty much completely. Happily, there was no overflowing, and they turned out fine.

My favorite of the two was the sage. As soon as I tasted one, I thought how great these would be with a hearty, winter soup. They would also make nice items for an appetizer spread or cheese course. Now that I know how quick and simple this recipe is, I'm already thinking about different herbs or nuts or vegetables to try mixing into them next time.