French Madeleines

There is a stand at the Farmers Market which sells homemade soaps. The owners are from France and they also make the most exquisite madeleines. They are light and airy, with a touch of lemon, not too sugary. A huge favorite with our granddaughters! They are made on Fridays and if you don't get to the Market before 7 in the morning, they are often all gone. Much sadness if David returns empty handed. So I decided to try and make our own. Daniela and Nadia were helping on the first batch, they were a bit burnt and Daniela thought they were too hard. I think the oven was too high at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, so I went to another recipe which came out pretty close. . . this one by Dana Velden who has just published her first book, Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook sounds fiddly but you can melt the butter first and let it cool while doing something else, then prepare the batter and let it rest for at least an hour. The pans can be in the freezer. You need a madeleine pan, Dana calls for two pans but I only have one and it worked fine.

Ingredients
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Powdered sugar

Directions
Melt 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter in a pan. Pour into a bowl and reserve 3 tablespoons butter in a smaller bowl. Let the butter cool
To prepare the madeleine pans, mix 1 tablespoon flour with the 3 tablespoons reserved butter and stir until the mixture is well combined. Using a pastry brush, brush the interiors of the shells with the butter-flour mixture so that they are well coated.
Place the pans in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
Prepare the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. In one bowl whisk together 1 cup flour and 2/3 cup sugar and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk 2 eggs with 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon lemon zest until the eggs are frothy.
Add the egg mixture to the flour, using a spatula until just combined, add the cooled melted butter slowly and continue to stir. It may take a minute for the butter to blend into the mixture but do not over mix.
Rest the batter in a covered bowl for at least 1 hour and up to overnight in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the batter from the fridge and the madeleine pan from the freezer. Fill each well in the madeleine pan with 1 tablespoon batter.
Bake for approximately 13 minutes. The medeleines should be browning around edges and puffed up a little in the middle, Using your forefinger, press lightly on the center hump - when the madeleines are finished baking, it should spring back at your touch.
Remove the madeleines from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes.Tip the whole pan out onto a cooling wrack. Once cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve.
If you are freezing or storing the madeleine, do not dust with the sugar until you are about to serve
store cooled madeleines in an airtight container for a few days or freeze them in a double wrapping of plastic wrap for several months. Let the cakes defrost before dusting with sugar.