Chocolate Madeleines with Toasted Almonds and Coffee

Nope, not from the grains cookbook. I. Just. Needed. To. Bake.

When Bryan and I got married, my siblings gave us a gift certificate to Sur la Table, one of my favorite stores. Since it was a gift for both of us, I wanted to spend it on something we both wanted or would use. In all the hours I spent trolling Sur La Table’s website, I was able to find plenty of things I wanted, but nothing Bryan really wanted. Eventually, Bryan graciously allowed me to spend the Sur la Table gift certificate on the things I wanted. And I wanted a madeleine pan.

(Lest you think Bryan was being totally unselfish, let me point out that anything I bought would eventually benefit him in the form of baked goodness.)

Fast forward several months and said madeleine pan was still sitting in my office, untouched and untried. I kept looking at it and thinking that I ought to make some madeleines, but there were always other things I wanted to bake more. Then I stumbled on this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Orangette, and I finally ran out of excuses. Chocolate madeleines coming up.

I took some shortcuts with this recipe. First of all, I had a bag of almond meal sitting in the refrigerator, so I didn’t bother to toast and grind the almonds. Secondly, I used instant espresso powder instead of finely ground coffee and Kahlua instead of whiskey. And finally, I decided not to make the frosting.

The batter was quick and easy to make. I was especially drawn to it because you didn’t need to let it sit overnight like traditional madeleines. I had the first tray in the oven quickly. Then I realized that I had enough batter left over for probably two more trays of the little cakes (if I didn’t eat it all, that is), and with only one pan, that meant I was going to be spending time letting the pan cool, cleaning it and baking another batch. Ummm, yeah. Out came the mini muffin tin. In short order it was greased, filled and ready to bake.

The madeleines baked for about 12 minutes, smelling deliciously chocolately. I already knew I was going to have a problem not eating them all. Once out of the oven, I plopped them out of the pan and onto a cooking rack. I resisted for about 5 minutes, and then I had to have one. They were nubby from the almond meal, and deeply, darkly chocolate. The edges were slightly crispy but the cakes, themselves, were moist and dense. The coffee flavor was faint, enhancing the chocolate without overpowering it.

The mini-muffin cakes didn’t fare so well. They came out of the oven looking like perfect little mini cakes, all demure and easy going. But these little devils stuck something fierce. No amount of banging on the counter could dislodge them. Even running a thin knife around the edge didn’t help much. Finally, I ended up digging them out one by one, leaving most the bottoms still stuck in the pan. Next time I make them (and there is so going to be a next time), I’ll make sure that I grease my nonstick mini-muffin pan really well.