Madeleines in US measures: 2 large eggs, 1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup sugar, 1 stick melted butter, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp honey and the zest of half a lemon, baked at 350 °F (180 °C, thermostat 6) for about ten minutes. Rest the batter first: that is what gives the shell its hump.
Madeleines: the recipe in grams and US cups
| Ingredient | French recipe | US measure |
|---|---|---|
| œufseggs (US large) | 2 | 2 |
| farine (T45 or T55)all-purpose flour | 125 g | 1 cup + 1 tbsp |
| sucre en poudregranulated sugar | 70 g | ⅓ cup |
| beurre fondubutter, melted | 115 g | 1 stick |
| levure chimiquebaking powder | 4 g | 1 tsp |
| miel (1 c. à s.)honey | 21 g (15 ml) | 1 tbsp |
| zeste de citronlemon zest | ½ citron | ½ lemon |
| sel (une pincée)salt | 1 pinch | 1 pinch |
| beurre et farine pour le moulebutter and flour for the tray | un peu | a little |
Tap a row to tick it off. US measures use King Arthur Baking weights per cup; a scale gives the most exact result.
Method
- Melt the butter and let it cool until it is only just warm. Butter and flour the madeleine tray, unless it is silicone.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt together in a bowl until smooth and a little paler.
- Whisk in the flour and baking powder, then the warm melted butter, then the honey and the lemon zest. Stop as soon as the batter is smooth.
- Cover the bowl and let the batter rest while the oven heats. Resting is what gives madeleines their hump.
- Heat the oven to 180 °C (thermostat 6); on a US oven dial that is 350 °F.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter into each shell of the tray.
- Bake about 10 minutes, until risen, golden at the edges and springy in the middle.
- Let them settle a minute in the tray, then turn them out onto a rack. They are best warm, the same day; in an airtight box they keep about 2 days.
Converted from the traditional French recipe; not yet kitchen-tested by Mangez Moi.
The French way: the shell, and the hump
A madeleine is a small butter cake baked in a tray of scallop-shell hollows, and the thing bakers chase is the bosse, the hump that rises on the flat side. Taste France dates the cake to Commercy in eastern France and says its flavour comes from a simple mix of butter, honey and lemon zest, which is the version converted here. Marcel Proust did the rest for its reputation.
Our two sources do not agree on how to get the hump. Taste France says to let the batter rest before baking so the hump forms in the oven. Kilomètre-0 does not rest the batter at all; it bakes four minutes at 240 °C and then drops the oven to 180 °C for four more. Neither gives a resting time, so we do not invent one: rest the batter at least while the oven heats.
One source contradicts itself and it is worth knowing which way: Taste France’s method says to preheat to 180 °C and bake for about ten minutes, while its own article above that method says to bake at 190 °C for 8 to 10 minutes. We publish the method’s 180 °C and name the difference rather than quietly pick one.
How the two French recipes compare
Both are written for the same two-egg shape of batter once you scale them. Ours sits inside their range on flour, sugar, butter and baking powder, and takes the honey and lemon from Taste France at half its quantity.
| Recipe (per 2 eggs) | Flour | Sugar | Butter | Baking powder | Extras | Oven |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mangez Moi base | 125 g | 70 g | 115 g | 4 g | 1 tbsp honey, zest of ½ lemon | 180 °C / 350 °F, about 10 min |
| Taste France (as published, 2 eggs) | 120 g | 60 g | 120 g | 1 tsp | 2 tbsp honey, ½ lemon | 180 °C, about ten minutes |
| Kilomètre-0 (halved from its 4-egg recipe) | 150 g | 75 g | 115 g | 4 g | none | 240 °C for 4 min, then 180 °C for 4 min |
Kilomètre-0 publishes 4 eggs with 300 g flour, 150 g cane sugar, 230 g butter and 8 g baking powder for 30 madeleines; the row above is that recipe halved so the three sit side by side.
The tray
A standard madeleine tray has 12 shell hollows, and Kilomètre-0 fills each with about a tablespoon of batter, which is where this recipe’s yield of about 15 comes from. Taste France says a small muffin pan works as a substitute but will not give the shell shape, and that the tray should be buttered and floured first unless it is silicone.
Melted butter that is still hot will start cooking the eggs. Let it cool until it is only just warm before it goes into the batter.
Easy variations
- Orange: Taste France swaps the lemon zest for orange zest.
- Beurre noisette: brown the butter before it goes in, for a nuttier madeleine.
- Chocolate chips or a pinch of sea salt: both listed by Taste France as classic twists; it also finishes half the batch with melted dark chocolate, pistachios and icing sugar.
Tools used on this page: the recipe converter (grams to cups), French oven temperatures, the cake pan size converter and the French recipe abbreviations list.
Sources
- Taste France Magazine, “French Madeleine” by La Cuisine de Géraldine – 2 eggs, 60 g sugar, 120 g butter, 120 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp honey, half a lemon; oven 180 °C, bake about ten minutes
- Kilomètre-0, “Madeleines de Commercy” by Martine Pineau (4 July 2026) – 4 eggs, 300 g flour, 8 g baking powder, 150 g cane sugar, 230 g butter for 30 madeleines; 4 minutes at 240 °C, then 4 minutes at 180 °C
The quantities are the traditional formula, cross-checked against the sources above; the method is written in our own words. US measures are computed from the King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart by the same converter as our recipe converter.
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Why do madeleines have a hump?
Taste France says resting the batter before baking is what makes the hump form in the oven. Kilomètre-0 does not rest it and instead bakes four minutes at 240 °C before dropping the oven to 180 °C.
How long should madeleine batter rest?
Neither source we checked gives a time: Taste France says only to let it rest before baking, and Kilomètre-0 skips the rest. Rest it at least while the oven heats.
Do I need a madeleine tray?
Taste France says a small muffin pan works as a substitute, but the cakes will not have the shell shape. Butter and flour the tray first unless it is silicone.
How many madeleines does this make?
About 15. Kilomètre-0 gets 30 madeleines from twice this batter at about a tablespoon per shell, and a standard tray holds 12.
How many cups is 125 g of flour?
About 1 cup + 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour, at 120 g per cup.
Cite this page: Mangez Moi, “Madeleines in Cups: The French Shell Cake Recipe,” mangezmoi.com, updated October 11, 2026, https://mangezmoi.com/recipes/madeleines/. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit and a link.