Cappuccino Churro Madeleines with a Chocolate Dipping Sauce

A fun little bake that tastes partly like a sweet breakfast treat, and partly like a classic Mexican carnival or street vendor fried donut.

It all got started with Dorie Greenspan’s Cappucino Madeleines.  I love making these, they aren’t too sweet, but just sweet enough to satisfy that demanding little tooth at the back of my mouth!  The texture isn’t heavy or too cakey like some madeleines, but much more delicate.  There are obviously instant coffee (or instant expresso powder) and cinnamon in the batter, to give it the cappuccino flavour, which is just so subtle, but aromatic.

Turning These into Churros

I decided to play on the cinnamon that is already in the batter and take it a step further.  Follow my weird thinking:  Churros are lovely light yeasted donuts which are fried and then covered with cinnamon and sugar.  When I have churros, I love them with a steaming cup of coffee. The coffee is the perfect balance to the sweetness of the exterior of those delightful donuts.  So then, these madeleines are coffee flavoured.  There is also cinnamon in the batter.  Cinnamon is part of the churro experience, so why not turn these sweet little cakelets into a churro concoction?!  Right??! 

So as soon as they come out of the oven, I brush them lightly with some melted butter, and then give each of them a good dusting of cinnamon sugar.  It will melt in.  So feel free, as they cool to repeat with a bit more of the cinnamon sugar.  It will give the exterior a beautiful crunch.

Madeleines themselves are really a delicate cake batter that is best when it rests in the fridge first.  The classic dome or bump that appears when baking is achieved when the batter filled pan which was resting in the fridge hits a baking sheet that has gotten nice and hot in the heating oven.  Of course, having said all this, feel free to use a mini muffin tin if this is all you have in the kitchen. I love the beauty of the classic scalloped shell shaped madeleine pans, and have managed to amass a collection of pans, both new and old. But they are not absolutely necessary to enjoy the texture and flavour of your favourite madeleine cakelet.

Another tip to getting a great madeleine is in prepping the pan itself.  I always place mine in the freezer to chill up, take it out and brush it with melted butter.  Then I return it to the fridge to wait to get filled with the batter.  Fill it and leave it in the fridge till the oven is ready.  Prepping the pan this way will help create madeleines that will release easier once they come out of the oven.

Back to the Churros

Classically they are served with a chocolate dipping sauce.  So why not serve these with a chocolate sauce as well?  I mean, while you’re waiting for the madeleines to bake, you can quickly create a perfect creamy smooth ganache sauce.  It is the easiest thing in the world.  Chocolate, cream, butter, salt and a bit of corn syrup.  Why the corn syrup?  It will help maintain a glossy finish to the sauce, even after it has thickened up.  Giving it a quick stir will show off that sheen again. But don’t feel obliged to use it, it will taste fine without it.  Heavy cream, butter, salt and the corn syrup are warmed up in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Then the chopped chocolate or high quality chocolate chips are added, and stirred through once.  Take it off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.  And then stir to smooth it out- the chocolate will have melted in the residual heat, and you have a perfect ganache.  And here is my tip for an amazing over the top delicious sauce: add a smidge of cayenne pepper or chilli powder, even harissa.  Yep, it will add the perfect finish- truly next level! 

The ratio for the ganache is easy to remember for this: equal weight of both.  Eight ounces (1 fluid cup) of cream to eight ounces (about 1/3 cup) of chocolate.  1 tbsp of butter, and 2 tbsp of corn syrup.  Use the best chocolate you can find.  Especially if using chips.  Lower quality chips have too many additives that will not let them melt properly.  I typically use Callibeaut or Ghirardelli.  For a really great, comprehensive post on ganache (one of the best I have ever read) check out this post over at Carlsbad Cravings.

So while I was making up the sauce, I thought, why not make it easier for those of you who don’t want to bother with serving these with a sauce on the side?  So go ahead, just dip the cooled madeleines into the sauce, as deep or as shallow as you want, and place them on a cooling rack so that the chocolate can set up.  I can tell you, these are quite addictive.  Even Jim, who really isn’t into bakes like this devoured his fair share!

The recipe makes 12 regular sized madeleines, or 24 mini ones.  These are perfect as a breakfast treat, an coffee break snack, or as a little gift to pass on to your neighbours next door.  I did adjust the spices from the original recipe, just so that they would hold their own against the chocolate.

Love Jen

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Cappuccino Churro Madeleines with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Light, delicate and coffee flavoured cakelets have a cinnamon sugar coating and a chocolate dipping sauce option. Perfect as a breakfast, a snack or a dessert

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword cappuccino, chocolate sauce, churro, madeleines

Prep Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Servings 12 madeleines

Ingredients

Cappuccino Madeleines

• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 to 3 teaspoons finely ground espresso may substitute 1 3/4 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 tbsp (1 stick unsalted butter), melted and still warm, plus 2 tbsp melted butter for finishing the baked madeleines.
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chopped
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup optional but this will give the sheen to the sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract optional
• 1/4 tsp chilli or cayenne pepper if you want to give your sauce a kick!

Instructions

Madeleines

1. Whisk together the flour, coffee, baking powder, cinnamon (to taste) and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Whisk together the sugar and eggs energetically; you’re looking for the mixture to thicken and pale just a little, and this could take a couple of minutes. Once the whisk leaves tracks, beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Still working with your whisk or switching to a spatula, gently mix in the flour mixture, folding and stirring only until it disappears into the batter. Finally, fold in the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If you can, chill the batter for a few hours so that it has time to take in the flavours of the coffee and cinnamon.

4. Alternatively, you can spread melted butter into a chilled madeleine pan or 24 mini-muffin wells, chill again and then spoon the batter into the molds, cover it lightly with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, and refrigerate the batter this way. (I like this technique – it means that the madeleines are ready to go.)

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a large, heavy baking sheet in the oven and preheat it, too. Grease and fill the mad or muffin tin with batter, if you haven’t already done so.
6. Place the pan on the hot baking sheet and bake (middle rack) for 12 to 15 minutes if you’re making shell-shaped mads, and 10 to 13 minutes for minis, or until the cakes are golden brown and their centres spring back when lightly poked. Immediately release the little pastries from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any stubborn madeleines from the pan using a butter knife; transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
7. While the madeleines are baking, combine the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
8. Brush the madeleines with the remaining melted butter. Using a small strainer, coat the madeleines with a good dusting of cinnamon sugar. You can repeat with more sugar mixture once they have cooled down a bit more.
9. Serve with the chocolate dipping sauce, or dip one corner of the madeleines into the slightly cooled but smooth ganache. Place these onto the cooling rack to allow the chocolate to set.

Chocolate Sauce

1. While the madeleines are baking, you can prepare the sauce.
2. Add heavy cream, butter and corn syrup (if using) to a medium saucepan and heat until butter is melted and the mixture just begins to simmer, stirring occasionally. Alternatively you can add heavy cream, butter and corn syrup to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes or just until simmering and butter is melted.
3. Add chocolate and give it swirl so the chocolate is covered. Let stand 3 minutes.
4. After 3 minutes, vigorously whisk in circular motions until chocolate is melted and completely smooth. Whisk in vanilla and chilli powder, if using.
5. Let ganache cool for 10 minutes before using as a dip or sauce.

Recipe Notes

You can find the original Dorie Greenspan Cappuccino Madeleine recipe here at the Washington Post.

You will have more sauce than you need for the madeleines.  Chill and rewarm, use in hot chocolate, as a sauce over ice cream etc.