• This recipe can make 9 large-size madeleines (size of the well: 3 inches height x 2 inches the widest width) or 10 standard-size madeleines. Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C) for conventional oven for at least 10 minutes. For convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F (15 C).
• Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C) for conventional oven for at least 10 minutes. For convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F (15 C).

Prepare the batter:

• Combine the softened cream cheese with icing sugar. Cover and keep in the fridge
• Whisk egg, sugar, and vanilla extract with a balloon whisk until the sugar dissolves. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Use a whisk to combine by starting to stir from the middle moving ourwatds to combine without overmixing. As long as you don't see pockets of flour, don't mix anymore. It will smooth out after you add the butter
• Add the butter mixture and use a spatula to fold it in until combined. The butter combines nicely to the batter because there's egg in there. The egg helps the butter and the batter to emulsify nicely. The batter should be smooth and shiny

To chill or not to chill the batter:

• I have experimented with both. You can bake straight away and still get nice humps. If you choose to chill the batter, I notice that the humps get slightly bigger. So, it's up to you. Without resting the batter still gives the cake nice humps. As you can see in the photos, those were from batter not resting in the fridge. If you choose to rest the batter in the fridge, rest it for 30 minutes. Don't do any longer than this as the butter gets too hard. The batter consistency is thick and that's normal. If it's too thick, you can let it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes and it will soften a bit

Fill up the pan:

• Transfer the batter to a piping bag so you can fill up the mold easier without much mess and it gives you more control. Alternatively, you can also use a measuring spoon. Fill up about 2/3 of the mold cavity. Put about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese filling and then pipe more batter to cover. Just fill up about 90% of the pan. You don't need to even out the batter as it spreads as it bakes. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles

Baking:

• Place the pan in the oven middle rack and bake for 5 minutes. Then without opening the oven's door, reduce the temperature to 375 F (190 C) for conventional oven. For convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F/15 C and bake for another 5-6 minutes or until golden brown with a nice hump. When you lightly press on the cake, it springs up lightly and no longer feels wet if you stick a toothpick into the hump to test for doneness
• When you gently touch the surface, the cake should spring back lightly. If they still look wet in the middle, bake for another minute and test again

Cooling:

• Immediately remove from the oven and use a toothpick or a small silicon spatula to help you flip the cakes over on their side to cool down in the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove to cooling rack after that. If you put them straight to the cooling rack, there will be cooling rack prints on the cake because the cake was still very soft when they are hot

Baking the next batch:

• If you don't have pans to bake all the batter, increase the oven temperature back up again. Just wait until the pan has cooled down. I know it's a bit of inconvenient, but it is to ensure we get nice humps.
• Clean off any residue on the pan if any, and brush with melted butter again and dust with flour and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and pipe or spoon the batter like what you've done before and proceed with baking

Coat with white chocolate (optional):

• When the madeleines have cooled down completely, melt some white chocolates. If you are using blocks or chunks of chocolate, chop them into smaller pieces. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir until all chocolates are melted. If some aren't melted, you can try a quick 10 seconds and then stir
• Dip half of the madeleines into the chocolate and put on a cooling rack with a baking tray lined with parchment paper at the bottom to catch the dripping chocolate. You can also put about 1 teaspoon of melted white chocolate in the madeleine pan and then gently press the cake in there to distribute the chocolate evenly. Let the chocolate set in the fridge for about 15 minutes. You should be able to release the cake easily

Serving:

• You can dust them with a thin layer of icing sugar if you like. Serve them on the same day because that's when they taste the best. I don't recommend making them in a big batch for sure! If you have leftovers, store them in an air-tight container after they have cooled down completely. They can be kept at room temperature for about 2-3 days. You will notice that the texture may not be as good as they were on the day you bake them, they lose that slight crispness after being stored.
• I don't recommend keeping them in the fridge or freezing them as they dry out pretty fast and the texture suffers!