Madeleines

These little shell-shaped cakes are one of the glories of French baking. Light, delicate, and buttery, they are surprisingly easy to prepare. This recipe calls for two madeleine pans each with twelve cavities. The ones I have are standard and make a 3-inch madeleine. If you only have one pan or your molds are smaller, you can keep reusing the same pan. These bake fairly quickly. If you don’t have madeleine pans, try using mini muffin pans (see Buttermilk Fudge