Basil and parmesan madeleines

Even though I have my pride – I’m a Scorpio, after all – I will admit it when I’m wrong and apologize.

After telling you that I wasn’t in the mood for Mr. Benjamin Button, I changed my mind and decided to watch it – with a little push from my good friend C. I’m so glad I did - what a beautiful movie. It touched my heart like very few have. David Fincher really gets the best out of Brad Pitt, every time.

Something similar happened here. I wasn’t so sure savory madeleines would work. So I kept postponing making them. And now, a year after bookmarking the recipe, I finally tried it. And it’s good. I was wrong.

My only thought here is that both flavor and texture are much better when the madeleines are hot/warm. But let me know if you disagree.

Basil and parmesan madeleines

8 tablespoons (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (140g) cake flour – I used all purpose flour
3 teaspoons finely minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus more for sprinkling
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 190ºC/375ºF (I preferred to bake them in the higher part of the oven so they would not burn).
Brush the molds of two 12-well madeleine pans with 2 tablespoons of the butter and dust with all-purpose flour; tap out the excess.

Sift the cake flour into a bowl and gently stir in the basil, the 1 teaspoon fleur de sel and the pepper. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the cream of tartar and sugar and beat until the mixture drops from the whisk in ribbons, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture and the 1 cup cheese, then fold in the remaining 6 tablespoons butter*.

Spoon the batter into the prepared molds so the batter is even with the rims. Bake until the madeleines spring back when pressed lightly, about 12 minutes. Immediately remove them from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel and cheese and serve.

* the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I refrigerated the batter overnight

Makes 18 madeleines – I halved the recipe and got 15 madeleines (I used a 15-well pan and each well holds 1 tablespoon batter)