You’ll often find madeleines referred to as cookies, but these scallop shell-shaped delights could quite easily be called cakes. While madeleines are our topic for the day, we’ll leave you to decide just how to categorize them.
Whether cookies or cake doesn’t change the fact that these simply French origin delicacies are both beautiful to look at and a wonder to eat.
Like all the best food, there is just something about homemade that heightens the taste factor when done right.
I’d rather eat one of my Great Aunt Shelia’s baked goodies than anything from a 5-star professional kitchen any day of the week.
So, here to aid you in making some scrumptious homemade offerings, we take a look for the best madeleine pan.
List Of Madeleine Pan
- USA Pan Madeleine Pan
- Fox Run Non-Stick Madeleine Pan
- Cuisinart Madeleine Pan
- Chicago Metallic Madeleine Pan
- Masterclass Non-Stick Madeleine Pan
- Bellemain Madeleine Pan
- YumAssist Madeleine Pan
- Gobel Madeleine Pan
- Webake Madeleine Pan
- Fox Run Mini Madeleine Pan
- Norpo Mini-Madeleine Pan
Comparison Chart of Top 11 Madeleine Pan
FAQ
Who Makes The Best Madeleine Pan?
– Well, it’s quite a difficult question. There are different types of madeleine pans for your different needs. So, it is hard to point out who makes the best Madeleine pans. However, we can recommend some manufacturers who have high brand quality and image. Some of our top picks of manufacturers are Williams Sonoma, Wilton, Sur La Table, Chicago, de Buyer, and Gobel. Before making any purchase, always look for reviews so make sure you get what you look for.
What Makes A Good Madeleine Pan?
– Your madeleine pan should have a specific shell-design look that sets the ribbed shape of the cake. Always remember that the pan determines the shape of your cake. Then there should be the traditional bumps in the pan. The shell design and the bumps are what you need to make tasty French Madeleine cakes.
What Can I Use Instead Of A Madeleine Pan?
– Well, if you are craving fancy French Madeleine but don’t have the special pan, you can still make it. If you look at the recipe, you will see that having a specialty pan is not a must. You can use a mini muffin pan as an alternative for preparing the batter. If you have a mini tart pan (or mini tart molds/ mini tart shells), you can use them too. These are the best alternatives. However, you can make use of freestanding cupcake papers, or other specialty pans (different shapes and sizes) as well. However, you may need a creative approach while using the latter options.
What Is A Madeleine Cookie Pan?
– Madeleine pans are specifically made baking pans for baking delicious French madeleines, the famous French scalloped cakes with scalloped shape. Other shaped sweets (particularly tart-sized ones) may also be made in the pans, and while they are a specialty item, they can be extremely practical. You can get madeleine pans frequently from cooking supply retailers. These pans also come with non-stick coatings as an added convenience. Also, do you know? Madeleine pans are named after Madeleine Palmier, a famous French pastry chef who lived in the 18th century. She became exceptionally popular for her baking skills and delicate little cakes.
Why Do Madeleines Have A Hump?
– The bump on the Madeleine is a signature characteristic of a traditional French madeleine cake. A well-baked madeleine must have an elusive hump. Otherwise, you are losing the tradition here. There is a sweet science behind the recipe process that makes the hump. As the batter is refrigerated before baking, the temperature differential between the oven and the batter causes a burst of steam, which results in a hump in the baked good’s top. Just try it out and see for yourself.
Why Are My Madeleine Sticking To The Pan?
– Well, you don’t need to worry too much. You probably had some slight mistakes in your recipe. You have to carefully butter and refrigerate your madeleine tray before baking. After baking, the tray should be boldly banged sideways on a counter right out of the oven to prevent the madeleines from sticking. The cakes will pop out nicely. Make sure that there are no excess butter pools in the ridges and sprinkle the mold with a good amount of flour. It will prevent your cakes from sticking to the pan.
6 Best Madeleine Pans Reviews
1. USA Pan Madeleine Pan |Best Madeleine Baking Pan
If this baking tray were human, it would belt out the national anthem every morning upon waking and have a stars and stripes tattoo emblazoned on its chest.
The USA Pan, as the name should give away, is American workmanship at its absolute finest. Madeleines may originate from France, but they’ll be taking the pledge of allegiance after being cooked in this pan.
Joking aside, this 16-well non-stick madeleine pan is of great quality, offering a professional cooking experience thanks to the aluminized steel, which is clearly strong and helps to ensure evenly cooked madeleines.
Baking can be messy work, especially if the food items being cooked decide to stick to the pan. You’ll get no such trouble because the Americoat Plus Nonstick Coating is incredibly effective. Madeleines come out easily, and clean-up is effortless.
There have been safety concerns with some non-stick products recently, with some believing that harmful chemicals get into food. Rest assured, this silicone non-stick is BPA, PTFE, and PFOA free. Your madeleines will be safe to eat, and that’s a USA Pan promise.
Highlighted Features
- Made from high-performance and high-durability aluminized steel
- Corrugated surface for enhanced non-stick baking
- PTFE and PFOA free non-stick coating for healthy baking
2. Fox Run Non-Stick Madeleine Pan |Best Mini Madeleine Pan
When buying a madeleine tray, ask yourself the following question: How many madeleines can I make in one go? How much grease is needed to ensure the madeleines won’t stick? How am I going to clean up later?
The answers to these questions when looking at the Fox Run Non-Stick Madelaine pan are simple.
You’ll be able to cook 12 delicious madeleines per batch on an oven that can be ramped up to 445 degrees Fahrenheit if that is needed for any recipe. (Here’s a tip for you – 350 degrees Fahrenheit is the perfect temperature for perfect madeleines.)
No more will you need to grease your pan or use any type of baking parchment because this tray is as non-stick as non-stick can possibly be. You’ll never experience a stuck madeleine again.
Finally, clean up is easy, especially because the pan is dishwasher safe. So just bash off any burnt bits, and then let the right dishwasher cycle do the rest of the job for you.
Seriously, baking and everything that goes with it have never been made simpler.
Highlighted Features
- Cook twelve madeleines at a time
- No stick coating means no issues removing madeleines
- Dishwasher safe for easier clean-up post-cook
3. Cuisinart Madeleine Pan | Best Madeleine Cookie Pan
Before you clicked on this article, you were undoubtedly thinking there can’t be that much difference from one madeleine cookie pan to another. Well, you couldn’t have been more wrong!
With this Cuisineart madelaine pan, there are some key differences to the others we’ve looked at so far.
The most noteworthy of those differences come with the material. If looking for metal pans, your choice is usually between steel and aluminum.
Steel pans are a safe option when you are looking for durability. If you are like a wrecking ball in the kitchen or throw pans around a lot, you are probably better off with a steel pan.
However, if you are an artist that loves their tools, then try for aluminum. These pans offer a better heat distribution than steel and thus help to cook your madeleines more evenly.
The drawback comes if you are brutish. Aluminum is more prone to denting than steel, so if you aren’t careful, you could end up misshaping some of the 12 cavities available.
Highlighted Features
- Suitable for an oven lacking great depth, like a toaster oven
- Aluminum made for better heat distribution
- Non-stick allows for easy removal of food
4. Chicago Metallic Madeleine Pan | Best Madeleine Cake Pan
I’m not from Chicago and know very little about the place. I do know that Chicago pizza is amazing, Michael Jordan, while born in New York, played for the Chicago Bulls, and the wrestler turned UFC fighter CM Punk hails from ‘The Second City’.
When the only three things I know about Chicago are awesome, logic dictates that a madeleine cookie pan from a brand named ‘Chicago Metallic’ is obviously going to be great.
There’s not much extra to say about this pan that hasn’t been said about others we’ve already looked at.
It is made from carbon steel, so it has that extra durability about it. The non-stick coating is silicone, so you can be happy that it is safe for you and anyone else eating from your kitchen. You’ll also benefit from the dishwasher safety when it comes to cleaning.
So what makes it stand out? Well, it looks really, really cool, and the price is absolutely fantastic in comparison to inferior competitors.
Highlighted Features
- Made from carbon steel with an aluminized finish for both durability and cooking precision
- Silicone non-stick coating is both effective and safe
- Dishwasher proof product means no hard scrubbing to get the pan clean
5. Masterclass Non-Stick Madeleine Pan |Best Nonstick Madeleine Pan
In the last decade or so, all the best things have been made smaller. For example, mobile phones once required a suitcase to haul them around in, and now they’ll get lost in the shallowest of pockets.
And thus we come tenuously to the mini-madeleine. To be precise, a mini-madeleine of about one-inch in size.
This madeleine tray will allow you to make 24 of the mini-morsels per bake. The teeny-weeny bitesize nature of the treat is ideal for kids or dinner parties where having less on a plate makes everything seem posher.
Masterclass is an award-winning producer of bakeware, and so confident are they with the quality of their products they give a twenty-year guarantee for their pan and a five-year guarantee for the non-stick.
I just want to highlight again that this is a MINI-madeleine baking pan. I do this because this pan gets a lot of praise online for being sturdy and high-quality but criticized because the madeleines are small. But isn’t that what ‘mini’ means?
Highlighted Features
- Electroplated and sandblasted to give extra strength and durability
- BPA and PTFE to ensure food safety
- Non-stick technology comes with two layers for extra protection
6. Bellemain Madeleine Pan |Best Madeleine Cookie Pan
Some scientists dedicate their lives to finding cures for deadly diseases; others concentrate their efforts on saving the planet, while a very select few make their living trying to create the perfect madeleine pan.
Right now, the scientists who discovered that a twelve cavity madeleine pan produces the best madeleine deserves all our love.
It’s all about the way a pan heats up. Have more than twelve cavities, and you’ll find yourself with some madeleines that have cooked more than others. And that would just be a terrible shame with all the effort you’ve gone through with the measuring, and the mixing, and the temperature setting.
Made from carbon steel, you can rest assured that this pan won’t dent or bend unless you decide to bash someone over the head with it or drop it from the top of a very high building. Your madeleines will come out in perfect shape for many, many years.
Additionally, you won’t be poisoned by nasty chemicals due to a cheap non-stick coating, and you don’t have to worry the non-stick will ruin in a dishwasher. The pan is dishwasher safe.
Highlighted Features
- Perfectly balanced pan ensures even cooking of each madeleine
- Food-safe non-stick coating
- Dishwasher safe for easy cleaning
Madeleines Baking Pan Buying Guide
Madelines are delicious, and you need the best madeleine pan to ensure you make them as incredible as is humanly possible. Here are the features you need to do that.
a) Number of Cavities
Science has shown that if you want the absolute best normal-sized madeleines, then you need a 12-cavity madeleine pan.
These will give the best heat distribution across all madeleines, ensuring even cooking, with each madeleine having a consistent quality about them.
This 12 number does not apply to mini-madeleines.
b) Size of Madeleines
You either go for a madeleine tray producing the standard size madeleine or go for one that produces mini-madeleines.
I haven’t found one yet that produces a giant madeleine.
Mini-madeleines are perfect for tea parties where you want to have that posh and upper-class feel like you’re in a 5-star hotel. (The sort where you pay double the price for a sandwich half the size of normal). Kids will also love them.
c) Size of Tray
Don’t buy a tray that won’t fit in your oven.
This is especially important if you own one of those small toaster ovens that can bake a 9-inch pizza but aren’t going to fit a 15-inch madeleine tray.
Check your oven dimensions and the tray dimensions before purchase.
d) Material
Simple rules here – steel is strong, but aluminum is better for the overall cook.
Aluminized steel sits somewhere in between the two.
Decide whether you want to sacrifice overall madeleine quality for madeleine pan longevity. Then you’ll know which pan to choose.
e) Non-Stick
Non-stick is essential; otherwise, those pesky madeleines may refuse to come out of the tray. This happens over and over again, even at times when we have heavily greased our pans.
Make sure you choose a non-stick pan that makes food safety standards. It has been shown that many cheap non-stick items risk creating harmful by-products. All of the items we have reviewed are free from such hazards.
f) Dishwasher Proof
Finally, if you own a dishwasher, you need to make sure that you have a dishwasher-proof pan to ensure a) that you don’t have to clean the thing yourself, and b) that it will last a long time and many machine washes.
Bottom Line
And so it is we reach the end of our guide looking for the best madeleine pan.
The key differences to consider are the size of the pan, the size of the madeleine you wish to make, and the material you prefer your pan to be made of.
You’d think it would be a simple choice, but each key factor makes a subtle difference to how you bake, but it may just be a difference you love or hate.
We’ll now leave you to make your decision. Trust us, any pan from our list will be a hit.