Elizabeth David’s madeleines
Madeleines are among the lightest and most beguiling of all French petit* fours or small cakes. At one time they were made in a variety of sizes and in decorative moulds of different shapes. Nowadays, the name is mainly associated with the scallop shell characteristic, originally, of the madeleines of Commercy in Lorraine. These were the madeleines immortalised by Proust. Whatever small mould is used, the French madeleine mixture is extremely simple to cook. (French madeleines are not to be confused with the English coconut-decorated castle-pudding shaped cakes of the same name.)
To make 20-24 madeleines (the number will depend upon the dimensions of the moulds, which vary quite a bit) ingredients are 125g each of plain flour, butter and sugar; 2 eggs; a teaspoonful of baking powder; 2 of orange flower water or fresh lemon juice; the grated zest of half a lemon; a pinch of salt.
Have the oven turned on to 200C/gas mark 6.
Put the flour in a bowl. Sprinkle in the baking powder and and salt. Add the sugar and grated lemon rind. Separate the eggs. Stir the yolks into the flour mixture. Add the orange flower water or lemon juice.
Put the butter in a small saucepan or bowl over very low heat until it has softened. Do not let it melt or oil. Keeping back a tablespoon or so for coating the moulds, stir the butter into the main mixture. With a pastry brush dipped in the reserved butter, paint the moulds. (These can be bought in sheets of six or twelve.) Now whisk the egg whites to a stiff snow. Amalgamate them swiftly with the cake batter.
Using a dessert spoon, put the mixture into the moulds. Each mould should be half filled, no more. This is the only difficult moment in the cooking of the madeleines – difficult because it is so hard to believe that the little spoonful of the mixture lying rather sadly in the mould will rise, swell and take on the beautiful shape and markings of the shell mould. At this moment faith is essential; should the moulds be overfilled, the mixture will spread sideways; the result will be a failure.
As soon as the moulds are filled, put them into the oven, on the centre shelf, and preferably on an iron baking sheet. In 14-15 minutes the madeleines should be cooked.
While they are baking, butter and fill a second sheet of moulds with the rest of the mixture. If you have only one sheet, you have to wait until the first batch is cooked. For the cook this slows up the proceedings, but the short wait does not affect the mixture.
When, after the prescribed 14 minutes, you see that the cakes have risen and are a very pale gold, remove from the oven. Let them rest for just a few seconds before turning them out – using a small palette knife – on to a cooling rack. The underside of the madeleines should be a delicate golden sand colour. As soon as they are cool they are ready to eat, and at their best. They can, however, be reheated, extremely gently and for a few minutes only.
From Is There a Nutmeg in the House? By Elizabeth David, compiled by Jill Norman (Grub Street, £14.99). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for £12.29
Nigella Lawson’s devil’s food cake
Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious. When I made it one Friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in the mould of The Grim Eater, to find it too dark, too rich, not sweet enough: you get the gist. Instead, I came down on Saturday morning to find nothing but an empty, chocolate-smeared cake stand and a trail of crumbs.
You may prefer to prepare this the other way round from me, and get the frosting under way before you make the cakes. Either way, read the recipe through before you start cooking to get the shape of things in your head, not least because the frosting is softer, stickier than you may be used to. While you’re making it, don’t panic. The mixture will seem very runny for ages once the chocolate has melted and you will think you have a liquid gleaming glaze, beautiful but unfit for purpose; leave it for about an hour, as stipulated, though, and it will be perfect and spreadable. It never quite dries to the touch, but this is, in part, what makes the cake so darkly luscious. Goo here is good.
Serves 10-12
For the cake
cocoa powder 50g, best quality, sifted
dark muscovado sugar 100g
boiling water 250ml
unsalted butter 125g, soft, plus some for greasing
caster sugar 150g
plain flour 225g
baking powder ½ tsp
bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp
vanilla extract 2 tsp
eggs 2
For the frosting
water 125ml
dark muscovado sugar 30g
unsalted butter 175g, cubed
dark chocolate 300g, best-quality, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line the bottoms of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.
Put the cocoa and 100g dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.
Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy; I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you.
While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment.
Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg.
Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula.
Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.
As soon as the cakes are in the oven, get started on your frosting: put the water, 30g muscovado sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
When this mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.
Leave for about 1 hour, whisking now and again – when you’re passing the pan – by which time the cakes will be cooled, and ready for the frosting.
Set one of the cooled cakes, with its top side down, on a cake stand or plate, and spread with about a third of the frosting, then top that with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides, swirling away with your spatula. You can go for a smooth look, but I never do and probably couldn’t.
The cake layers can be baked 1 day ahead and assembled before serving: wrap tightly in cling film and store in an airtight container. An iced cake will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in a cool place.
Un-iced cake layers can be frozen on day of baking, each wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Defrost for 3-4 hours on wire rack at room temperature.
From Kitchen by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, £26). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for £21.32
Fergus Henderson and Justin Gellatly’s seed cake and a glass of madeira
Eleven o’clock and still two hours until lunchtime. Something to keep you steady – nothing finer than a slice of seed cake, washed down with a glass of madeira. This will see you safely through until lunch.
Serves 6
unsalted butter 260g, softened
caster sugar 260g
caraway seeds 1 tsp
eggs 5 large, lightly beaten
self-raising flour 320g
full fat milk 150ml
Grease a 16cm x 10cm x 8cm loaf tin with butter and line the base and sides with baking parchment.
Cream the butter, sugar and caraways together either with an electric mixer or in a bowl with a wooden spoon until they are white and fluffy. Gradually mix in the beaten eggs, adding them little by little to prevent curdling. Then sift in the flour and mix until incorporated. Lastly add the milk.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake in an oven preheated to 180C/gas mark 4 for 45 minutes or until it is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve with a glass of madeira.
From The Complete Nose to Tail by Fergus Henderson (Bloomsbury Publishing, £30). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for £24.60
Sam and Sam Clark’s pine nut and rosewater tropézienne
This cake is a Moorish version of the famous tarte Tropézienne that we used to buy in St Tropez. The rosewater cream is based on a simple creme patissiere, with rosewater and whipped cream added for aroma and lightness.
Serves 8–10
For the brioche dough
dried yeast 1 tsp (or 10g fresh yeast)
tepid water 120ml
plain flour 300g
caster sugar 50g
salt ½ tsp
organic eggs 2
organic egg yolks 2
unsalted butter 100g, softened at room temperature
pine nuts 150g
icing sugar for dusting (optional)
For the rosewater cream
vanilla pod ½, slit open lengthways
cornflour 25g
organic egg yolks 3
caster sugar 100g
milk 250ml
rosewater 2 tbsp
unsalted butter 40g
double cream 250ml
First make the brioche. Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix with 100g of the flour. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in volume. Sift the sugar, salt and remaining flour into a bowl (as this is quite a wet dough, it is easiest to make in a mixer fitted with a dough hook). Make a well in the centre of the flour and put the whole eggs, 1 egg yolk and the yeast mixture in it. Bring the dough together, knead for a few minutes, then slowly start to incorporate the butter. Once the butter is worked into the dough, knead in two-thirds of the pine nuts. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise at room temperature (no warmer than 25C, or the butter may melt and separate from the dough) for 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
Grease a 25cm springform cake tin with oil or butter and line the base with baking parchment. Press the dough into the tin, paint it with the last egg yolk and scatter with the remaining pine nuts. Leave to rise, again at room temperature, this time until trebled in bulk – just over 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4.
Bake the brioche for 30 minutes, until the nuts and crust are a rich golden brown. Leave to cool before assembling the cake, but bear in mind that this brioche is best eaten on the day of baking.
Next make the rosewater cream. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod, reserving the pod, and put them in a mixing bowl with the cornflour, egg yolks and sugar. Beat to a thick paste. Bring the milk to the boil with the vanilla pod, remove the pod, then slowly beat the boiling milk into the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the sauce pan and slowly bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly – the mixture will thicken dramatically. Decant the mixture into a bowl, stir in the rosewater and let it cool slightly. When it is about 50-60C (when you can put your finger in for a second, but not hold it there), stir in the butter. Cover and leave to cool, then chill for a few hours in the fridge.
Whip the cream until firm. Stir the custard to loosen it (it will have set solid), then fold in the whipped cream.
To assemble the cake, cut the brioche horizontally in half to make 2 discs. Pile all the rosewater cream on to the lower disc and replace the top. Chill the cake for 30 minutes if the cream seems a bit oozy, and serve dusted with icing sugar, if you like.
From Moro East by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury Press, £17.50). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for £14.35
The Little Bread Pedlar’s chocolate brownies
This is one of our original products, made for markets before we started wholesaling croissants. As it is a simple recipe, the ingredients should be the best you can afford.
Makes 9 good-sized brownies or 12 daintier offerings
dark chocolate 150g, minimum 70% cocoa solids
butter 185g
cocoa powder 60g
plain flour 50g
sea salt a pinch
baking powder ½ heaped tsp
eggs 3
caster sugar 185g
demerara sugar 75g
Preheat your oven to 175C/gas mark 3½. Line a rectangular baking tray, roughly 16cm x 22cm with baking parchment. For best results you want the mix to be about 2½cm deep in the tin.
Put the chocolate, broken into small pieces, into a bowl and the butter into a saucepan. The chocolate bowl needs to be large enough to fit the butter in as well once it has melted. Start gently heating the butter until it is fully melted and just begins to boil.
Sift the cocoa powder, flour, sea salt and baking powder together into a separate bowl.
Put the eggs and both the sugars into a large mixing bowl. Beat them with a hand whisk just for a couple of minutes until they turn a little more pale and golden. You don’t need to get too much air in as the brownies by nature want to be fudgy and dense.
Once the butter is starting to froth pour it over the chocolate and use the whisk to combine the two until you have a uniform chocolate gloss.
Pour this into the egg mixture and whisk together but not too much – keep it nice and ribbony.
Tip the dry mix – flour, cocoa, et al – into the egg and chocolate mix and gently fold all together until it is uniform.
Tip this into your lined tin, push it into the corners using a spoon or spatula and bake in the middle of the oven for around 15-18 minutes, turning once if you think it needs it.
Achieving the combination of slightly cakey corners and a squidgy middle means everyone is happy!
The Little Bread Pedlar supplies cafes and shops across London; lbpedlar.com
This article has been amended: the amounts for ingredients in the final brownie recipes have been reduced by a third at the request of the author. Using the original amounts would have made 30 brownies.
