Pretty Little English Madeleine Cakes ( Low Carb & Gluten Free)

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These English madeleine cakes make perfect little low carb treats.  This recipe combines moist buttery vanilla cake, the flavour of tart raspberry jelly, and flakey bits of creamy coconut. 

Right?  I mean how can you possibly go wrong with this one?

These make a great sweet breakfast option to have with a spot of tea or a cup of joe.  I only say this because it was my breakfast for the last three days.  Since these raspberry jam coated cakes are low carb, sugar-free, and gluten-free, it’s a breakfast pastry option without guilt.  

For those of you who cannot have dairy, I have an easy solution.  You can make them dairy-free by replacing the heavy cream with coconut milk and the butter with coconut oil.  This is one recipe where the coconut flavours enhance the dish and the dairy-free option shines all on its own.   


English madeleines tea cakes on a white cake stand


English Madeleine Tea Cakes 

You know, I never set out to make these English madeleine cakes.  I was actually looking for a French madeleine baking pan and stumbled on a photo for these pretty little cakes. 

They are like a long lost dessert from my childhood.  Although I cannot remember my mom specifically baking them, I remember the flavour and texture vividly.  

The weird thing is my husband said the exact same thing.  He immediately recognized them, and remembered the taste, but cannot remember from where. 

I have a feeling these were once a packaged pastry from my youth, like a Twinkie, or a Ding Dong.   


A sliced raspberry coconut english madeleine cake on a white plate


A bit about the sweeteners

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Use your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute.  

Powered is preferred over granular, as it blends better and has a nicer texture.  Erythritol and xylitol also tend to get grainy when cold, but I found the powdered versions to do it much less.   

If you don’t have powdered erythritol or xylitol and only have granular, go ahead and give it a blast with a high-speed blender, or food processor.  My favorite powdered sweetener by far is So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend, I find it has almost no aftertaste at all.   

Swerve and stevia will work perfectly fine here as well as does any powdered erythritol or xylitol brand. 

Just remember, xylitol is poisonous to dogs and cats, so if that’s your choice and you have little furry friends running around, be aware that it can be deadly for them. 


Answers about Sweeteners, Low Carb Baking Tips, and General FAQ

For more detailed information about must-have baking tools and answers about sugar replacements, you can check out these FAQ pages.

We also have a handy sweetener replacement chart you can download for free!

Our FAQ Pages have answers to your biggest low carb baking questions including:

Tips for Baking With Almond Flour

Tips for Baking with Coconut Flour

Guides for Allulose, Monk Fruit, and Erythritol.

Substitutes for Xanthan Gum.


Ingredients laid out in small bowls.

A few tips for baking the batter

Ok, so traditionally these cakes are made in dariole moulds.  But you do not need to go out and buy special moulds for this recipe.  I used a simple pop-over baking pan, but you could use a muffin pan too, the only thing that changes is the size. 

This recipe makes six decent sized cakes. If you used a muffin pan I would wager it would make twelve smaller cakes.  Keep this in consideration when you are checking out the nutritional information. 

Whichever pan you use, you have to make sure the batter doesn’t bake up over the rim.  Only fill your moulds half-way, regardless of what pan you use.  If the cake bakes up over the rim, it makes it more difficult to get the cakes to roll in the raspberry jam, the flatter the sides are the better. 

The other trick I use for cakes when I want a perfectly flat surface is to flatten them with a tea towel.  When the cakes come out of the oven, use a clean tea towel and cover the cake and gently press down to flatten the tops.   This ensures the cakes don’t look wonky or wobbly when you turn them over. 


Batter being poured into a metal pop over baking pan

A few tips for the raspberry jam coating

I made a quick raspberry jelly for these English madeleine cakes.   

You have a few options here for the jelly.  You can make your own quick jam by cooking raspberries and adding a few chia seeds.  Or you could buy a pre-made no sugar added raspberry jam, or make your own shelf-stable sugar free raspberry jam to keep on hand for recipes just like this one.

It doesn’t really matter which way you choose, but do make sure your jam is indeed not made with added sugar. Not all commercial sugar-free jams are created equal and some still have high carbs. The jam I make has about 1 net carb per tablespoon and adds about 1.5 net carbs to each cake. 

The only other tip about the raspberry jam is to make sure it is nice and jammy, not too runny.  If the jam is watery and runny it won’t coat the cakes, but it will make them soggy. That’s not the texture we want!   So do be sure to make or use a nice thick jammy jam for this recipe. 


A small white cake being coated with raspberry jam

 

How to assemble the English madeleine cakes

Once the cakes are removed from the pans and cooled, quickly roll them in the raspberry jelly.  Do not allow them to sit and soak or they will soak up too much jam.  Just give them a quick coating.  The back of a spoon works well for moving the jelly around.

Once the cakes are coated in raspberry jam, give them a quick spin around the desiccated coconut, just enough to coat.

Add a fresh raspberry to the top for decoration. 

These set up pretty well.  After about 30 minutes the outside dries up a bit and touching them doesn’t leave behind a sticky raspberry coconut mess. 


A madeleine being coated in coconut.

Serving and storage for your English madeleine cakes

I made these in the morning, and we ate them for breakfast.   I had one for breakfast the next day too and they were still perfect.  Kept out at room temperature they were good for two days. By day three the erythritol started to crystallize in the raspberry jam and the outside coating got a tiny bit crunchy.  I actually liked this texture, it felt like a sugar coating, but just so you are aware that the texture does change around day three. 

If you put these in the fridge, the erythritol will crystalize faster and that crispy sugary shell will form up pretty quick. 

You could also make the cakes in advance and freeze them uncoated.   Pop them out of the freezer a few hours before you plan on rolling them in jam and coconut. 

english madeleine cakes on a white cake stand and small white plate
A Perfect Little English Madeleine Cake Recipe ( Low Carb & Gluten Free)

A Perfect Little English Madeleine Cake Recipe ( Low Carb & Gluten Free)

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

A buttery vanilla cream cake rolled in tart raspberry jelly and coconut. These sweet little cakes make a really cute presentation for dessert. They also make a great little breakfast treat.

Ingredients

Raspberry Jelly

Vanilla Cake Batter

Coconut Coating

  • 3/4 cup sugar-free coconut
  • 1 tsp powdered erythritol

Instructions

Raspberry Jelly

  1. Place 1 cup raspberry puree into a small saucepan with 1/2 cup water.
  2. Gently cook over med-low heat until raspberries start to thicken.
  3. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a small bowl.
  4. Add 1 Tsp of chia seeds (I powdered mine) to the raspberry juice and allow it to cool and set.

Desiccated Coconut

  1. Add sweetener to coconut and set aside in a small bowl.

Cakes

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter (or grease) pop over molds.
  2. Whip eggs in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until fluffy and creamy
  3. Add butter, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and cream to the eggs and blend well.
  4. Sift coconut flour, almond flour and powdered erythritol in a large bowl.
  5. Add baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt to the dry ingredients and mix in well.
  6. Pour wet ingredients into dry and fold gently until blended.
  7. Fill popover molds (or any baking pan) halfway to the rim.
  8. Baking for 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  9. Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then invert and cool on a wire rack.

English Madeleine Assembly.

  1. Roll cooled cakes in raspberry jelly and use the back of a spoon to spread jelly to coat the entire cake. Do not allow cakes to rest or sit in the jelly.
  2. Roll raspberry jelly coated cakes in desiccated coconut.
  3. Top with a fresh Raspberry.

Notes

The raspberry jam makes more than you will actually need, but is enough so you can roll the cakes and coat each one easily. The left over raspberry jam can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 274Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 125mgSodium: 185mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 4gSugar: 2gProtein: 8g

Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.

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