Rosebud Madeleines

Madeleine was on my list since long. These are very small sponge cakes with a shell like shape, which is obtained using the special madeleine molds. These are described as French butter cakes cause of their French origin and yummy buttery taste. I was looking around in most local stores in my area since sometime to find the madeleine pan, but without much success. That is when CSN stores contacted me to do a review of some of their products. I was looking at the wide variety of products that they had to offer, ranging from twin beds to cookwares to pick the perfect item for my review and guess what, I found the Madeleine pan on their cookware website. They do have a wide selection of all kinds of specialty cookware. Something definitely worth checking out!

Once I received the Madeleine pan, I started going over the 5 to 6 recipes that I had shortlisted for making madeleines. One of them was the Rosebud Madeleine recipe that was in the book "How to be a domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson. That sounded perfect, one of the reasons being the use of rose water which I love the flavor of.

Makes 12 Madeleines

Salted Butter	- 1/4 cup + Additional for greasing
Eggs	- 1 large
Sugar	- 2 tbsp (level)
All purpose flour (Maida)	- 1/3 cup
Rosewater	- 1 tbsp
Confectioner's Sugar	- for dusting (optional)

1. Melt the butter at a low heat and then leave to cool. You could also use unsalted butter (that is what the recipe actually calls for and then add a pinch of salt to the batter).
2. Beat the Egg and Sugar in a bowl for 5 minutes using an electric mixer, until it is as thick a mayonnaise.

3. Sieve in the flour into the egg-sugar mix shaking a sieve that is held above the egg-sugar mix.

4. Fold in the flour smoothly into the egg-sugar mix.
5. Add the melted butter and Rosewater and mix smoothly in.
6. Keep the batter in the refrigerator for an hour and then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. (This is an optional step; I tried it with and without this step; did not feel much difference).
7. Preheat the oven at 425 degree F.
8. Brush the insides of the madeleine molds generously with butter.
9. Fill the molds with the batter (this would be 2+ teaspoons full for each). Do not worry about filling the indentations completely with the batter. The batter will spread as it heats up.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep checking in between. It will be ready as the sides start to brown a bit.
11. Remove the madeleines from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

 12. You could serve by dusting confectioner's sugar. It is awesome even without dusting the sugar.

These are a perfect tea time snack and for munching anytime. It is also an easy recipe with not too many ingredients. If you do not have rosewater, you could use some other essence like vanilla. But I would suggest getting rosewater if you have an option.

Showing off my newly acquired possession from cookware.com.