Chocolate Madeleines

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1¼ cup sifted cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees, if using nonstick pans). Spray madeleine pans with nonstick cooking spray. Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir in the butter. Set aside. Mix together flour, and baking powder.

Beat eggs in a large bowl until light and lemon colored; add vanilla. Gradually add the sugar, beating constantly at high speed 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat until mixture has quadrupled in volume, about 5 minutes. Gently fold in the flour mixture, then the chocolate.

Place one tbsp batter in center of each mold. Bake 12 minutes (placing pans on racks on the lower  half of the oven). Cool on rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

Madeleines with Almonds and Apricot Glaze

⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp butter

2 large eggs

½ cup sugar

½ cup plus 2 tbsp plus ½ tsp flour

1 tsp baking powder

1½ tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla

¼ tsp almond extract

2 tbsp chopped almonds

For glaze:

3 tbsp apricot jam

1 tbsp water

MADELEINES: Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until foaming subsides and butter starts to smell nutty and milk solids are a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour brown butter into a heatproof container and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk 1 egg with the sugar until foamy. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining egg until the batter looks smooth. Add milk to the cooled (but still melted) brown butter and drizzle the mixture into the batter, whisking continuously. 

Whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set the batter aside for 50 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate for 10 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle position. Spray a madeleine pan with non-stick cooking spray and fill each mold almost to the top. No need to smooth batter as it will even out as  it bakes. Sprinkle almonds on top. Bake 9-11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove madeleines from the oven and immediately invert the hot pan over a wire rack, gently rapping the pan to dislodge the madeleines. 

GLAZE: Combine jam and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring, until the jam melts into the water. Remove from the heat. Using a pastry brush, brush the shell-side of the madeleines with the glaze.

Best served on the day they are made but you can keep them in an airtight container for up to 2 days.