These birthday madeleines are a fun and festive way to celebrate big and little occasions alike!
Madeleines are a classic French baked treat usually served with tea or coffee. They are known for their iconic shell design in front and the “bump” on the backside.
Madeleines should have a slightly crisp shell exterior with a soft, moist interior.
Just like these matcha madeleines, this recipe makes exactly one dozen little cakes. Madeleines are best enjoyed fresh, ideally the same day they are baked. As such, small batch is the way to go!
Table of Contents
Birthday Madeleines
It’s not a party without confetti rainbow sprinkles!
The funfetti sprinkles used in this recipe have made their appearance on a variety of other birthday celebration baked goods: funfetti cinnamon rolls, giant birthday cinnamon roll cake, and chocolate dipped funfetti ice cream bars.
How to Prepare Madeleine Pans
Madeleine pans are available in a variety of sizes and materials. I prefer the metal pans over the silicone ones. I use this 12 cavity madeleine pan I purchased from Amazon.
Greasing the madeleine pan is a crucial step! It is important to grease the pan with softened (or melted) butter and dust with flour. This helps with the unmolding of the baked madeleines.
Use a pastry brush to grease the pan with softened or melted butter. Make sure to cover every nook and cranny.
Dust the greased pan with flour. Tap out any excess flour. You just want a thin coating of flour.
*Even if you are using a nonstick pan, I still suggest buttering and flouring the mold!
Does it matter what kind of sprinkles you use?
The sprinkles add more than just color. They also add a touch of sweetness while also adding pops of color to the baked treat.
I recommend using these flat confetti sprinkles. As the name suggests, these sprinkles look like round paper confetti.
Sometimes they are called “confetti quins.” They come in all sorts of different confetti shapes: from traditional circles to flowers to stars and more.
These particular sprinkles are perfect for mixing into batters. They retain their pastel color even after baking.
(NOTE: I bought my pastel colored confetti sprinkles from Smart and Final. They are made under the First Street brand.)
Don’t use nonpareils, also known as “round sprinkles.” The color will fade and you will end up with strange crunchy bits in the baked madeleines.
Jimmies or “cylinder sprinkles” are also not a good choice for this recipe. They dissolve slower than confetti sprinkles. As such, you will still end up with weird crunchy bits.
How to Fill Madeleine Pans
There are several ways to fill the madeleine pan with batter. I find using a piping bag is the easiest and least messy way.
A small cookie scoop is another way to ensure consistent batter amounts. Or, simply use two spoons to dollop in the batter.
Fill the madeleine pans about 3/4 full of batter. The batter will spread and fill the mold.
White Chocolate Dip:
The baked madeleines are dipped in melted white chocolate and topped with additional confetti sprinkles.
Use chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips.
Not a fan of white chocolate? Sub in dark or milk chocolate. Or, for an even more festive approach, use ruby chocolate!
Why does the recipe use imitation vanilla instead of pure vanilla extract?
Did you grow up eating grocery store bought birthday cakes at children’s parties? I learned many years ago that imitation vanilla is the secret ingredient that gives those cake their iconic flavor!
Of course, you can sub in real deal pure vanilla extract. The resulting flavor is cleaner and lighter.
The imitation vanilla gives off this unmistakable sweet note.
For additional flavor, a tablespoon malted milk powder is also added into the batter. This provides a rich creamy flavor without the additional of more liquids. Feel free to omit if you don’t have the milk powder on hand.
Enjoy these madeleines ASAP!
As mentioned before, these birthday madeleines are best enjoyed the day they are baked. Over time, the madeleines turn stale and dry.
Birthday Madelelines
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoon (85 g) unsalted butter,, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large yolk
- ⅓ cup + 2 Tbsp (93 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon imitation vanilla extract, *
- ¾ cup (100 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon malted milk powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons confetti sprinkles
- 1 cup white chocolate chips, , or chopped white chocolate
Instructions
- Melt butter and allow to cool. Set aside.
- In the large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat eggs and egg yolk until light in color. Slowly add sugar and continue to beat until mixture is thick and pale in color, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together flour, malted milk powder, baking powder, and salt. Use a spatual to gently gold dry ingredients in egg mixture.
- Add cooled melted butter in two additions. Fold until butter is fully absorbed into batter. Trasnfer batter to an airtight contianer. Let chill in the fridge for at least three hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Butter and flour a 12 cavity madeline pan. Tap out excess flour.
- Fold confetti sprinkles into chilled batter.
- Fill madeleine pan ¾ full of batter. Use a piping bag, small cookie scoop, or two spoons to distribute the batter.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until cakes have a little hump and the top of cake springs bake when gently pressed. Allow cakes to cool in pan for one minute before inverting and unmolding. Allow cakes to cool before dipping in white chocolate.
White Chocolate Dip:
- Place white chocolate in a microwave safe container. Microwave at 50% power at 20 second intervals until melted and smooth. Stir often to ensure even melting.Alternatively, set white chocolate over a bain-maire (double boiler) to gently melt the chocolate over steam.
- Dip madeleines int melted chocolate and immediately top with confetti sprinkles. Place on parchment lined or wax paper lined tray. Allow to chocolate to set before serving.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
- This recipe uses flat confetti sprinkles, also known as confetti quins. I purchased mine from Smart & Final. They are made under the First Street Brand.
- DO NOT use nonpareils (aka “round sprinkles”) because you will end up with strange crunchy bits in the baked madeleines.
- Use chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips. Sub in dark or milk chocolate, if you prefer.
- Imitation vanilla extract gives these little cakes that iconic store-bought birthday cake flavor. Imitation vanilla is slightly sweeter. For a cleaner flavor, sub in real deal pure vanilla extract. Or, for even more punch, use vanilla bean paste.
- Malted milk powder may be omitted. This powder provides rich creamy flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
How should I change the banking time if I’m using a rubber Madeline mold?
I don’t recommend using rubber or silicone baking molds. It does not transfer heat very well.
Hey, I’m Jesse, and I just wanted to say I absolutely LOVED your birthday cake madeleines. I actually have my own blog and just put out my Strawberry Milkshake Madeleines. I just started the blog and I really don’t know anyone else who blogs. I really found that the recipes you post are very creative and fun.
I was actually reaching out to you to ask if maybe you had any advice about getting your blog posts out there or how you build up your pinterest profile.
I was wondering. Is there a way to convert this to be a cake recipe as well? Wasn’t sure
No, this batter cannot be baked as a cake. However, I have several confetti/sprinkle birthday cake recipes on the site. Simply use the search button to find them. I hope that helps.