So, I picked up one of those madeleine cake molds a while back. You see those little shell-shaped cakes in cafes and think, “Hey, I could make those.” Seemed simple enough, right? Just a different shaped cupcake, basically. That’s what I thought anyway.
Got the pan, it was a standard metal one, non-stick they called it. Felt sturdy enough. Washed it, dried it, ready to go. Found a recipe online, seemed straightforward. Butter, eggs, flour, sugar, the usual suspects. Mixed it all up. The batter looked okay, smelled nice and lemony.
First Try – Not Great
Okay, here’s where things started going sideways. The recipe said to grease and flour the pan. I did. Or, I thought I did. Slapped some melted butter in there with a brush, dusted it with flour. Maybe I rushed it. Poured the batter into those little shell shapes. The recipe said not to fill them too much. Okay, fine.
Stuck it in the oven. Watched them puff up. They even got that little hump on the back they’re famous for. Looked pretty good coming out of the oven. Smelled amazing. Let them cool for a few minutes like the instructions said.
Then, tried to get them out. Big mistake somewhere. They stuck. Like, really stuck. Tapped the pan, nothing. Tried easing them out with a little plastic spatula. Some came out, but lost their edges. A couple broke in half. Ended up with maybe half of them looking decent, the rest were kind of a mess. And cleaning that pan afterwards? Ugh. Scraping bits of cake out of all those ridges.
Round Two – Doing It Right (Sort Of)
Wasn’t gonna let a pan beat me. Read up a bit more. People online were serious about the whole greasing and flouring thing. Like, really serious. And chilling the batter? Apparently, that helps get the hump. Okay, fine.
So, next weekend, tried again. This time, I did this:
- Melted butter, used a brush to really get into every single ridge of every shell shape.
- Put the buttered pan in the fridge for 10 minutes to let the butter set.
- Took it out, floured it thoroughly, tapped out all the extra flour so just a thin coat remained.
- Made the batter again, but this time I covered it and put it in the fridge for a good hour. It was much thicker.
- Filled the cold, prepped molds with the cold batter. Still careful not to overfill.
- Baked them.
And guess what? They slid right out. Perfectly. Well, mostly perfect. A couple were a bit pale, maybe my oven has hot spots. But they came out of the pan. Intact. Shell shape clear, little hump proud. It actually worked.
Cleaning was way easier too, just a quick wash. So yeah, the mold itself is fine. It does the job. But you gotta treat it right. That prep work, the chilling… it wasn’t just suggestions, it was the whole key. Learned that the hard way. Still got some practicing to do to get them all looking bakery-perfect, but at least they’re not sticking anymore. It’s a process, you know?
