Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes Martha's Madeleines Are the Most Elegant Teatime Treat 3.4 (38) These delicate tea cakes are a French classic. Yield: 3 dozen Jump to recipe Whether you consider them a cake or a cookie, there's no denying that madeleines are elegant and delicious. These dainty, delicate treats are a French classic. They're always baked in special madeleine pans, which have shell-like indentations. Martha's madeleines recipe is leavened only by the whipped eggs, no baking powder here, and flavored with vanilla and lemon juice and zest. As they are made with just a few ingredients, it’s important to use good quality butter and vanilla—you'll taste the difference. Martha veers from tradition in that she uses a mixer to make the madeleines; traditionally, these tea cakes were mixed by hand, but using a mixer speeds up the process. 21 Types of Cookies You'll Want to Bake Credit: Bryan Gardner Directions Preheat oven, prep pans, and melt butter: Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter and flour madeleine pans carefully. Melt butter and let it cool. Whisk eggs, sugar, and salt: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk eggs, sugar and salt together until thick, about 8 minutes. Add vanilla and lemon zest, then flour: Add vanilla and lemon zest. Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour, rapidly but gently. Gently fold in butter and scoop mixture into pans: Fold in butter gently, making sure it does not settle to bottom. Quickly spoon or scoop mixture into prepared madeleine pans. Bake and cool: Bake until golden, about 7 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool on racks.