Earl Grey Madeleines Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

When I’m feeling a bit peckish and I don’t want a full-on snack, I’ll often turn to tea. A warm cup of milky earl grey always makes me feel super cozy. And of course proper tea needs to have a tiny nibble on the side. Nothing overindulgent like a slice of cake…no, something handheld, sweet and just right.

Madeleines are perfect: two bite, golden shell-shaped sponge cakes that taste faintly of butter and vanilla. They’re fantastic on their own, but as Proust will tell you, even better alongside a steaming cup of tea. Typical madeleines are flavoured with vanilla and lemon, but I’ve been meaning to try early grey madeleines for a while, so I gave them a whirl.

There are quite a few flavoured madeline recipes out there and earl grey is one of the most common. Most of the recipes I found added the earl grey by steeping the tea leaves, but not including them in the batter. I wanted a more pronounced tea flavour, so steeped the tea leaves and swirled them straight in. The tea-flecked batter was pretty, but I found that the madeleines didn’t have enough earl grey-iness. Nonetheless, they were delicious: tender with slightly crisp browned edges.

I am cookie, I am cake: I AM EARL GREY MADELEINE!

Earl Grey Madeleines Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks
yield: 7-8 large madeleines

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2.5 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon loose leaf earl grey tea
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• butter to grease madeleine pan

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the tea and cool to room temperature. While the melted butter is cooling, grease the madeleine pan.

Put the egg in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick – approximately 3 minutes. The egg should double or triple in volume. Continuing to mix on high speed, and slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick. With a spatula, gently mix in the vanilla.

Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture, stirring only enough to bring everything together. At this point, I like to refrigerate my batter for a bit. I find it helps with baking. Press saran wrap directly against the batter and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Spoon the batter into the flutes, filling each 2/3 -3/4 full. Bake the madeleines for 12 – 14 minutes, or until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately.