What is a French madeleine?
People in Bangkok often ask us what exactly they are eating when they open a box of madeleines. Here is the full answer, from the kitchen.
Where does the madeleine come from?
The madeleine comes from Lorraine in north-east France. Wikipedia names Commercy and Liverdun as its home towns. Nobody agrees on who invented it. The best known stories credit a young cook named Madeleine in the eighteenth century, sometimes said to be Madeleine Paulmier, a cook for Stanislaus I, Duke of Lorraine.
What is better documented is how the cake travelled. Commercy sat on the railway between Paris and Strasbourg, and vendors sold madeleines to passengers on the platform, which helped the cake spread across France.
Today many French bakeries have their own recipe.
What does a madeleine look like?
Two things make a madeleine a madeleine:
- The shell side. One side carries a pattern of fine, well-defined ridges, pressed in by the shell-shaped mould.
- The hump. The other side rises into a rounded bump. Wikipedia lists both as the marks of the cake.
The colour should be golden, a little darker at the edges.
What should a good madeleine taste like?
A good madeleine has a crisp, golden edge and a soft, springy centre. The famous hump on its back is a sign the batter was rested cold and baked hot. It should never be dry or oily.
How are madeleines made?
The batter rests in the fridge for several hours, which helps create the hump. It is then piped into shell moulds and baked briefly at a high temperature.
We bake in Bangkok the morning we deliver.
How to enjoy a madeleine: step by step
- Eat it the day it is baked. That is when the contrast between the crisp edge and the soft inside is strongest.
- Look first. Turn it over: ridges on one side, hump on the other. That ten-second look tells you a lot. Our guide on how to spot a good madeleine goes further.
- Try one plain. A plain madeleine shows the shape, the edge and the crumb most clearly.
- Then pair it. A black coffee in the morning or a light tea in the afternoon. See madeleines with coffee and tea.
- Share it. Madeleines are small, so a box goes round a table easily.
Plain, filled or topped?
Madeleines come plain, filled with a soft centre, or topped with a glaze or a dipped coating. Our guide to plain, stuffed or topped madeleines explains the difference and how to choose. You can see all our flavours on the flavours page, or go straight to build your own box.
Madeleines and memory
Madeleines have a famous place in literature. In In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust's narrator tastes a madeleine dipped in tea and a childhood memory comes back in a rush. Wikipedia notes that "Proustian" has come to mean something that brings back a forgotten memory.
Where to get madeleines in Bangkok
Our roundup of where to buy madeleines in Bangkok lists places with a dated, sourced fact for each. Ondine bakes madeleines Monday to Saturday and delivers across central Bangkok. Sending one as a present? Our guide to birthday gift delivery in Bangkok covers timing and wish cards.
Sources: Wikipedia, "Madeleine (cake)"; Wikipedia, "Commercy"; Wikipedia, "In Search of Lost Time" (all checked 14 October 2026).
Questions
Is a madeleine a cake or a cookie?
A cake. Wikipedia describes madeleines as very small sponge cakes. They are often served like a biscuit with coffee or tea, but inside they are soft like a cake.
Why does a madeleine have a hump?
The hump forms in the oven. It is one of the two classic marks of a madeleine, together with the ridged shell pattern on the other side.
How do you say madeleine?
In English most people say MAD-uh-lin or MAD-uh-layn. In Thai it is usually written มาเดอลีน or มาเดลีน.
How is a madeleine different from khanom khai?
Both are small cakes baked in moulds, crisp outside and soft inside. A madeleine has its ridged shell shape and hump; khanom khai is a Thai dessert with a rounder shape.
What is the Proust madeleine?
In the novel In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust's narrator tastes a madeleine dipped in tea and a childhood memory comes flooding back. Since then, a 'Proustian' moment means a taste or smell that brings back a forgotten memory.
When is a madeleine at its best?
The day it is baked, when the edge is still crisp. That is why we bake in the morning, Monday to Saturday.