Vegan Madeleines Ghosts
These Vegan Madeleines decorated as Ghosts are a classic French cake decorated to become the perfect sweat treat for Halloween. Get the recipe below.
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Spooky French patisserie
In this recipe I take the classic Madeleines recipe and turn them into ghosts! but not just any ghosts, vegan ghosts!
Madeleines aren’t traditionally vegan so some substitutions are required but with my simple recipe you can have delicious Vegan Madeleines Ghosts in no time.
What are madeleines?
Madeleines are a type of small cake, part of the range of sweet treats you’d find in a French patisserie.
They have a slightly dense but spongy texture and crisp edges. They are also baked in a special pan so that on one side they look like a shell, and on the other side they have a “hump”. And, this “hump” is an important feature so there are some important steps in the recipe that make sure it’s not missing in your final bake.
Classic madeleines are usually made with eggs, butter, sugar, flour, and sometimes lemon zest or vanilla. In this recipe we’ve replaced regular butter for vegan butter and used vegan yogurt for the eggs. I’ve chosen to flavour my madeleines just with vanilla because we’re also using vegan white chocolate and dark chocolate to decorate.
Vegan ingredient substitutions
To make vegan madeleines, you’ll need to replace the key animal-based ingredients with plant-based alternatives. For example:
- Vegan yogurt: in a traditional recipe, eggs are used to create the spongy texture and to add moisture. In this recipe we use vegan yogurt. My preferred yogurt is soy yogurt as I feel this mimics eggs the best and therefore gives the best results.
- Butter: traditional recipes also use butter for a rich flavour. Vegan butter is a simple alternative as it gives an authentic taste.
- Milk: As with the yogurt, I like to use soy milk when I bake but in all honesty any plant milk will work!
Top tips for baking Vegan Madeleines
There are just two tips for this recipe that you absolutely should follow. They are:
- Chill the batter: Without chilling the batter you won’t get the signature hump or the soft interior with crispy outer shell. You only need to chill them for 30 minutes but longer is best.
- Use the right pan and make sure it’s greased: Madeleines are best baked in a madeleine tin. The shell shape not only makes them look authentic but also helps with even baking. Although your pan may be nonstick, I always recommend greasing it with a little melted vegan butter so that they come out easily with their shell shape still intact.
How to decorate Vegan Madeleines as ghosts
When I was looking at my cake tins and saw my madeleine tin I suddenly had a brain wave; they were the perfect shape for creating little ghosts!
Decorating them is incredibly simple and requires just two ingredients: vegan white chocolate and dark chocolate. The method is to melt the chocolate, drip the madeleines in the white chocolate first. Then, when the white chocolate is set, pipe two eyes and a mouth using the dark chocolate.
I told you it was simple!
Now I’d describe the vegan white chocolate brand as more of a “blonde” colour but I think the effect still works well. Some vegan white chocolate brands will give you a lighter colour. So, you may want to shop around.
Once the chocolate has set they are ready to eat!
The recipe
Vegan Madeleines Ghosts
Ingredients
- 150 g plain flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 110 g vegan butter melted
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g soy yogurt
- 50 ml soy milk
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 100 g vegan white chocolate
- 25 g vegan dark chocolate
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 220C / 428 F / gas mark 7.
- Sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the 100 g of melted butter, caster sugar, soy yogurt, soy milk, and vanilla paste making sure the sugar is well mixed with the other ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold until combined.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Melt the remaining 10 g of vegan butter and brush the madeleine tray with it.
- Once the batter has chilled, spoon a tbsp of batter into each of the madeleine holes.
- Gently make sure the batter is in the shape of a shell though don’t flatten out or this will prevent the hump forming.
- Bake the madeleines in the hot oven for about 4 minutes, until they have formed their humps and are golden around the edges; then turn the oven down to 180 C / 350 F/gas mark 4 and bake for another 4 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- Let them cool for 5 – 10 minutes in the tray. Removing them too soon and placing them on a wire rack may leave indentations on the madeleine.
- Repeat with any extra batter that you have.
- Once cool, melt the white chocolate.
- Dip the shell side of each madeleine into the white chocolate then return to a wire rack to set.
- Once set, melt the vegan dark chocolate, put in a piping bag and then pipe on the faces.
- Enjoy on the same day once the chocolate has set.
Nutrition
Storage instructions
Unfortunately vegan madeleines do go stale quite quickly. You can keep them in an air tight container for up to 2 days. I don’t recommend storing them any longer.
More Halloween recipes (they’re vegan too!)
For the full range of Halloween recipes check out my spooky recipe archive.