Recently I’ve felt compelled to make (mostly bake, actually) tributes to a few dishes that have stuck with me through the highs and lows of what I can only call a food-obsessed decade of my life. The intent isn’t necessarily to replicate dishes 1:1 — I do not possess the chops / arrogance to think I could emulate the pros — but instead take the spirit of the dish and apply it to the skill set and kitchens of your standard measure ardent home cook, of which I think I am a pretty good representation.
I suppose I’m also processing a bit of restaurant related fear of change; there are so many dishes I can only taste in my memory now (this is what makes life beautiful???), and I’m trying to be more proactive in at least understanding how they work. I have a recurring nightmare in which my favorite neighborhood restaurant closes… I so wish I was joking. I’m writing these posts with equal parts trepidation and respect / admiration for the minds from which these dishes originated, and hope these efforts are only ever interpreted as the sincere form of flattery that they are.
I have a few projects in this copycat cooking realm planned, specifically to try and bring some things I can’t taste regularly for whatever reason back into my life. But first, a new local favorite:
What - Mini Madeleines from Xiao Ye
Menu description - masa & mochiko, whipped butter, jalapeño powder
Home baking adjustments - Making full size madeleines, skipping jalapeño powder in favor of chipotle and honey in whipped butter
It’s kind of impossible to eat this dish and not love it. I’ve never heard anyone have a response other than “…should we get another order?”. So far restraint has prevailed, but there have been more than a few close calls. It works to open a meal the way cornbread does, sweet but not enough to tip into dessert territory, crispy golden edges, the perfect amount of chew imparted by the mochiko. While eating it for the third time, it dawned on me that mochiko and masa harina are two things I actually have a fair bit of experience with. I was not immune to the mochi-adjacent dessert craze that swept the nation (or maybe just Brooklyn) circa 2021, and in late 2022 we had a pretty intense Mexican cooking phase1, one that would have been the subject of a lengthy edition had this newsletter existed at the time.
Originally, I was going to try making a cookie with a similar composition, but the crisp edges a madeleine pan can achieve seemed pretty essential to the dish… so I bought a madeleine pan. Other than that, I already had everything I needed for my first attempt on hand.
Attempt 1 - Clearly overbaked, the end product tasted ok, but I knew I could do much better. I put the whipped butter back in the fridge for a few minutes out of fear it would melt in the warm kitchen and that was a mistake. Next time: reducing bake temperature, increasing mochiko in the mochiko : masa ratio, reducing overall batch size to properly fit a 12 cake pan.
Attempt 2 - Look is still a bit off, but in the taste department these are even better. I borrowed some methodology from Serious Eats for an even easier preparation — there really does not seem to be a need to get the stand mixer out. Can I bring bake temp down even more? I would proudly serve these to guests, but I think I can get a little bit closer still.
Attempts 3-6? 7? - Ran out of mochiko and tried a different brand… I resolve to never say a bad word about anyone just Doing Their Best, but I will say I bought more Blue Star immediately. I switched from a yellow masa harina to a white, for aesthetic purposes more than anything. By this point, I’d made plenty of batches with consistently good to great results. I think you might need to play around with your bake temperatures a touch, depending on the particularities of your oven. Even when the bake job isn’t 10/10, these have been very tasty, which I think is the appropriate amount of grace we should be giving ourselves as home cooks.
The final tweaks: I’ve learned the importance of counter balancing moisture loss in brown butter and decided to simplify chipotle out of the whipped butter — I think it was distracting more than contributing.
Masa & Mochiko Madeleines w/ Whipped Honey Butter
Inspired by Xiao Ye
12 madeleines / 30 mins active time (45 mins + overnight rest total time)
For the madeleines
75g of butter, plus some for greasing the pan
2 tsp water
75g grams of granulated sugar
25g of masa harina2
50g of Koda Farms Blue Star mochiko (sweet rice flour)
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, beaten
For the whipped butter
1 stick of extremely soft butter
3 tbsp honey
A pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Brown 75g butter over medium high heat, let cool slightly and stir in 2 tsp of water
Whisk granulated sugar, masa harina, mochiko, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl
Whisk eggs into dry ingredients until just combined, then add cooled brown butter until a thick batter forms, about 1 minute
Cover and chill in the fridge overnight, for up to 2 days
Use an electric mixer to whip soft butter, honey and salt together until well combined, about 2 minutes. Butter can be refrigerated, but allow to come to room temperature before using
When it’s time to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a madeleine pan with butter3
Place one heaping tbsp of batter in each mold cavity, a #60 cookie scoop works well
Bake at 375°F for 3 minutes, drop the oven temperature down to 350°F4 and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and invert madeleines on to a wire rack immediately. Let cool
Spread a generous amount of whipped butter on a plate (save the rest for next time) and stand madeleines up on top of the mound. Sprinkle with a touch of powdered sugar, if desired
Best served the day they are baked, batter keeps in the fridge for 2 days.
And there you have it, another gluten-free5 treat to add to the repertoire. I like making these as arrival snacks for guests a lot; the batter comes together very quickly the night before, and the time from the “on my way from the airport” text to arriving at my doorstep seems designed to match this recipe. You can of course also skip the whipped butter for slightly less decadence.
If you’re local and haven’t been to Xiao Ye yet, I encourage you to treat yourself to a fantastic meal, including an order or two of mini madeleines. Up next in this series… either a rosemary olive oil cake with a cream cheese icing, or a series of sandwiches that I am desperate to time machine back into my hands.
R
I started documenting our food pilgrimage to Oaxaca, with stops in CDMX and Guadalajara but I didn’t get very far
Melting and using a pastry brush creates the most even coverage. I recommend using a carbon steel pan over silicone, but it is not a hill I am willing to die on
This reminds me of “shocking” the crust of my actual favorite French pastry, canelé. A tip from Serious Eats
This is another hit, and there is a very good chocolate hazelnut torte in the Don Angie cookbook. Dairy free is still a challenge, but I’ll get there — I categorically refuse to host a meal where everyone can’t eat everything