Macarons can step aside, there's a new a specialty French cake in town: Called Everything Madeleine, it's a bakery dedicated to the French cookie-cake treat called the madeleine, and it's in downtown Carrollton at 1105 Vandergriff Dr. #3103, on the ground floor of LYV Broadway, a new-ish mixed-use apartment building, where it opened in early August.
Madeleines are a two-bite cake from France dating back centuries, sometimes eaten for breakfast or as a complimentary post-meal treat at fancy restaurants. Rich, buttery, and dense yet light, they're baked in a shell-shaped mold, which gives them their trademark rippled surface.
While Dallas is overflowing with macarons, there aren't many (any?) shops dedicated to this French treat, and that inspired Everything Madeleine owner Seunghee Park to open her shop.
Park is a pastry chef who went to culinary school in her home country of South Korea before moving to California in 2018. That's where she started a cottage bakery out of her home before moving to Texas with her husband.
"In Korea, there are shops dedicated to madeleines and similar desserts like financiers, the French almond cake," Park says. "I couldn't find any place like this in Dallas, and decided to open my own.”
First she tested the waters: doing pop-ups at local markets and events, then expanding to a delivery-only ghost kitchen in Farmers Branch. Bolstered by the following she developed, she took the next step to brick-and-mortar.
Raspberry madeleines at Everything Madeleine.Photo courtesy of Everything Madeleine
Madeleines are the star of her menu. She offers 14 flavors: from chocolate and vanilla to more exotic profiles like horchata and Earl Grey, and others with Asian flavors like black sesame and matcha macadamia. Some come with icing, others with delectable fillings such as strawberry ganache or pistachio raspberry cream.
The perfect madeleine has a shell-shaped bottom but also a little hump on the opposite side, Park says.
"All of your ingredients have to be at the same temperature, especially the butter which has to be warm," she says. "That's how you achieve that nice bump."
She has two other signatures: the canelé, another French pastry with a crunchy, caramelized exterior enclosing a center that's moist, almost like flan; and crookies: over-the-top croissants with a chocolate chip cookie topping.
But the madeleines remain the centerpiece and are popular as a gift, with individual madeleines priced from $3 to $5. Ordering a variety is practically a must. Her hours are Wednesday-Thursday 8 am-3 pm, Friday 8 am-6 pm, and Sunday 10 am-3 pm.
