Ingredients

Yields 100 Mini Madeleines

Unsalted butter (84% butterfat) 115 grams
Dark brown sugar 15 grams
Honey 15 grams
Granulated sugar 100 grams
Kosher salt 1 gram
All-purpose flour, sifted 120 grams
Baking powder 4 grams
Whole eggs (large), at room temperature 150 grams
Grated lemon zest 
Grated orange zest 
Nonstick cooking spray as needed
Confectioners’ sugar (for serving) as needed

Special tools:

Microplane (for grating zests)
Uncut piping bag
Nonstick mini madeleine pan
Small sieve

Directions

One Day Before: Make Batter

1. Melt the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a medium pot over low heat. Stir gently with a heatproof spatula to ensure that nothing burns. Keep the mixture warm over very low heat, or reheat if necessary.

2. Combine the granulated sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder in a large bowl and mix well with a whisk. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs one by one, whisking to incorporate each before adding the next.

3. When the eggs are fully incorporated and the batter is smooth, slowly whisk in the butter mixture. Whisk in the lemon and orange zests. The batter will still be runny and similar in consistency to cake batter. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the batter, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate overnight to rest.

The Day Of: Pipe, Bake, and Serve 

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C) for conventional or 350 F (175 C) for convection.

2. Using a rubber spatula, place 2 large scoops of batter in a piping bag so that it is one-third full. Push the batter down toward the tip of the bag.

3. Cut an opening about 1.25 cm straight across the tip of the bag.

4. Hold the nonstick cooking spray about 10 cm away from a nonstick mini madeleine pan and spray evenly in all the cavities.

5. Holding the piping bag at a 90-degree angle about 1.25 cm above the pan, pipe the madeleine batter into the cavities so that it fills each about three-quarters of the way to the top.

6. Bake the madeleines for 2 to 2½ minutes on the center rack. When you see the batter puff up in the center, rotate the pan 180 degrees. Bake for 2 to 2½ minutes more, until the sides of the madeleines are golden blond and the center has set.

7. Unmold immediately. Bang the corner or sides of the madeleine pan against your work surface so that the fresh madeleines drop out.

Formulation courtesy of Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, published by Simon & Schuster, October 2014. Image courtesy of Thomas Schauer