Rosemary Madeleines with a White Chocolate Shell
Rosemary madeleines with a white chocolate shell
In my opinion, rosemary is an underutilized flavor in pastry. It adds such a delicious depth of flavor that pairs so well in things like shortbread or madeleines. Add a white chocolate shell and my god, we have a winner. I kept seeing these madeleines on social media with classy coatings on them and after a few TikTok dives, I sorted out that it’s actually quite simple. Yay for us!
This recipe will make you look fancy without too much work, just keep a close eye on your batter prep and rest times and you’ll have delicious, fluffy shells in almost-ish no time!
Equipment needed:
Yields: 12 Madeleines
Ingredients:
MADELEINES:
83g Unsalted butter
83g Powdered sugar
4g Baking powder
100g Beaten egg
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped (plus extra, see note)
83g Plain flour, plus extra for coating pan
WHITE CHOCOLATE SHELL:
150g white chocolate
3/4 tbsp canola oil
Directions:
MADELEINES
In a small saucepan, melt your butter. Should be hot but not boiling.
In a bowl, sieve together powdered sugar, baking powder, and flour.
Add beaten, room-temperature, eggs and whisk to combine
Once butter is ready, pour into mixture and whisk to combine. Should have a fairly loose batter.
Add in your chopped rosemary and fold in with a spatula. Don’t overmix here or it will affect the texture of your cakes.
Cover your bowl OR place the mixture into a piping bag and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes but ideally at least 12 hours for a fluffy bake.
Grease your madeleine molds.
Preheat oven to 428F/220C CONVECTION
Add your batter to a piping bag, if you didn’t already, and pipe into each mold a single line, about ¾ inch wide, from top to bottom. The mixture will spread as it bakes.
Once your molds are filled*, place them into the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 320F/160C convection
Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden
When removing from the oven, tap the edge of the pan on the counter* and tip the madeleines out immediately. Flip so the bump side is facing up. Cool completely.
WHITE CHOCOLATE SHELL
Place your white chocolate and oil into a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until your mixture is smooth and no more lumps.
Spoon a tablespoon of your chocolate mixture into the center of a shell of your madeleine pan, and press a cooled madeleine straight down within, shell side down. Only shift slightly* to coat, if needed. Repeat until all madeleines are covered.
Allow to cool completely in the pan on the counter*, before popping out. This will likely take at least an hour but potentially more (or less) depending on your climate. They should pop out easily.
Enjoy!
Notes:
If you’ve filled your molds and your oven is not yet to temp. Put the tray in the fridge until you’re ready. It’s key that your batter is cold ahead of baking, to acquire that signature madeleine bump/nose/pearl as it bakes!
You can tip these onto a wire rack for cooling but more often than not, in my experience, that lends to rack lines on the madeleines, which I for one do not want.
For a snazzy touch, chop up some extra rosemary and sprinkle in each pool of chocolate before you press your cooled madeleines into the mold.
You want the white chocolate to just cover the madeleine’s shell, not go over (or you’ll have a bit of an awkward edge). Better to be a little short on coverage than too much, so don’t overly maneuver your madeleines once you press them into the melted chocolate.
For cooling the chocolate shell, you can pop these in the freezer for 15 minutes for a faster hardening but note that this may lend your madeleines to getting a little clammy as they sit out afterwards and/or for your chocolate to be more easily melted when you hold it (after removing from the pan). Hence why I prefer a counter hardening so the chocolate (and madeleines) coincide with the natural temperature of your kitchen.
I adapted this recipe from the lemon madeleine recipe I received from Chef Ashley during my patisserie course in Scotland.
Disclaimer: This article contains some affiliate links for products I use - or similar - in the kitchen and highly recommend. By using these links you won’t pay any additional fees but support me to keep this site running!
