Hands Down My Most Delicious Batch of Madeleines Ever Made - Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Madeleines

These chocolate madeleines were so delicious. Seriously, me and Mister were like munching on at least two madeleines every time we opened the storing container. But why just two? Because the whole batch only yields 12 madeleines, and I gave two to my mother-in-law, so we had to control ourselves and try to make these pastries last a little bit longer.

Chocolate dipped chocolate madeleines - 

Ingredients (about 12 pieces)?

• 115 grams unsalted butter 
• 14 grams/1 tablespoon unsalted butter for prepping the pan
• 2 large eggs
• 80 grams granulated sugar
• 20 grams caster sugar
• 30ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 95 grams all purpose flour
• 10 grams/1 tablespoon for prepping the pan
• 22 grams cocoa powder
• 10 grams/1 tablespoon for prepping the pan
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Chocolate dipping sauce:

• 100 grams 70% or dark chocolate
• 5 grams/1 teaspoon unsalted butter

How?

Measure 115 grams of unsalted butter and melt it. I used the hot water bath (bain-marie) method to melt the butter, also changed the hot water once to speed up the melting process. Meanwhile, remove 2 eggs from the fridge and let them rest under room temperature for a little bit.

Bring out a big mixing bowl, I simply used the stand mixer bowls. Measure in 80 grams of granulated sugar plus 20 grams of caster sugar. Also break in that 2 eggs we took out from the fridge earlier.

Beat them either using the stand mixer, but I actually used hand-held mixer instead. Switch to medium speed and beat for about 5 minutes, or till the mixture appears a little frothy-looking.

Pour in 30ml of whole milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat again till fully blended.

Have another big bowl ready and measure in 95 grams of all purpose flour, 22 grams of cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Sift these powder on top of the big mixing bowl filled with our wet ingredients. Mix till everything has been evenly blended together.

Now let's pour in the melted butter. This time don't use the mixer, but a rubber spatula instead to fold till just about evenly mixed together.

You can use this batter right away, but this time I was more patient and actually store the batter to a lidded container then into the fridge overnight. So the next day when I bake the madeleines, I will be using cold batter, which will help the madeleines rise better and have a more "humped" shape as a result.

So either way, when ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Prep the madeleine pan. Again, I used the hot water batch method to melt the butter, this time 14 grams, about 1 tablespoon of butter. Then I brush melted butter to the madeleine mold.

Prepare a small bowl and add in 10 grams, that is about 1 tablespoon of flour plus 10 grams, also about 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. Mix them together then dust onto the madeleine mold. After that, invert the pan and give it a few taps. This till shake-off excess powder sticking onto the pan.

Some people prefer to further store the prepped madeleine pan in the fridge and wait till cold enough to actually use in baking. The concept is kind of like storing the batter in the fridge overnight. But for the pan, I think 15 to 30 minutes will do the trick, or simply skip this step shouldn't do much harm.

Scoop the batter to the center of each madeleine molds. I used about 1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons for each madeleines. There is no need to level or even out the batter, just keep them like imperfect shape of scooped batter balls.

Into the oven and bake for 12 minutes plus or minus 2 minutes depending on your oven heat status. Just to be safe, check halfway through and see if you need to flip the madeleine pan around to ensure even baking. The madeleines are ready when the center rises up, like a humped pastry, and the edge appears darker color.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool under room temperature. I turned them out onto a wire rack to cool-off.

During this time, melt 100 grams of chocolate along with 1 teaspoon of butter. Use a rubber spatula to mix them evenly together. Pour that chocolate dipping sauce to a smaller but deeper container, which will be easier to dip in the madeleines.

So once the madeleines is cool enough to handle by hand, dip them one by one in the warm chocolate sauce. Then back to the wire rack to cool-off and set, at least 15 minutes. Later on I actually carefully move the chocolate dipped madeleines to the fridge to further help the sauce set.

So I guess the extra work, that means prep the batter a day ahead and store them in the fridge can really make a big difference. These madeleines turned out with a tiny bit moisture feel, I mean they weren't dry at all. More so on a little luscious side.

By the way, even though many chocolate madeleine recipes all look somewhat similar, after all, some classic dessert ingredients and steps have been tried and true. But I did look closer into Emma Duckworth Bakes' chocolate madeleines recipe online for some reference. 

Look at the result, my batch of chocolate madeleines turned out super delicious. So I can assure you that her original recipe should be very good too, most likely even better. And I thank her for publishing that recipe online, so I had a good research before baking these yummy chocolate bites.

Extended reading:

• Two-color madeleines 雙色瑪德蓮

Claypot Pork Belly With Salted Fish 咸鱼花腩煲

Finally it's something Southeast Asian. I've been mostly cooking up Taiwanese, Japanese, and some western food recently, and now it's time for a popular dish around Malaysia and Singapore area, claypot pork belly with salted fish. 

Traditionally this recipe calls for pork belly, either thicker slices or chunks of meat. However, I find it a bit too fatty for my liking, so I switched up half of the meat to pork jowl, the so called Matsusaka pork.

Claypot pork belly with salted fish 咸鱼花腩煲 - 

Ingredients?

• 250 grams pork belly slices (1mm to 2mm thickness)
• 250 grams pork jowl slices (1mm to 2mm thickness)
• 1 small chunk salted mackerel fish 梅香鹹魚
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 dried red chilis
• 1 small chunk ginger
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 tablespoon potato starch
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon aged Shaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon crystal sugar
• 1/2 cup hot water
• Some olive oil

How?

Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of aged Shaoxing wine, 1 teaspoon of dark sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon of potato starch to marinate the pork. Do this step first then move on to prepping other ingredients.

Peel and slice the onion to wedges. Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Slice the dried red chilies to shorter sections, also shake-off the seeds inside. Scrape and roughly chop the ginger. Destem and slice the scallion to shorter sections, separate the green and white parts.

Try to remove the skin from the salted fish if possible, also pick out the bones if any. Tear to smaller pieces.

Have a claypot ready and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the pot warms up. Add in pork along with the marinade. Stir-fry till just about cooked-through. Scoop out and set aside for later use.

There should be some oil remain in the pot but do drizzle more oil if needed. Add in salted fish, stir-fry till slightly browned and breaks apart.

Add in garlics, ginger, scallion white sections, onion, and dried red chilies. Mix and cook till aromatic, maybe slightly golden brown on the edge for the onion wedges.

Transfer the pork back to claypot. Mix and season with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. Flip around till evenly blended.

Pour in some hot water, and the amount of water added should be below the top of the ingredients. I used 1/2 cup of hot water here. Bring to a boil and let it cook for couple more minutes.

Add in the green part of scallion sections. Continue to cook for another 30 seconds. Add about 1 teaspoon of crystal sugar and cook till fully melted. 

The claypot can prolong that heat for quite a while even after you switch-off the fire. Just bring the entire claypot to dining table. This dish should be a crowd pleaser and goes really well with some rice.

The Chinese salted fish I'm referring to is usually made with mackerels. The fish needs to go through fermentation, salt-curing, and sun-drying processes. Usually and maybe the most commonly seen is that you'll find salted fish being used in fried rice in fancier Chinese restaurants.

However, consuming salted fish in small amount once a long while is fine. But don't be like too addicted and include salted fish in your regular meal often. It might be packed with umami and works like a wonder as a flavoring ingredient, but definitely not an ideal item and healthy thing to enjoy on a regular basis. 

Other recipes using claypot:

• Aged Shaoxing wine and soy sauce prawns 花雕醬油大明蝦
• Braised chicken with abalone 鮑魚悶雞