Our food editors dreamed up this variation on a classic theme for our "all-French" issue, published to coincide with the French republic's Bicentennial celebrations.

Ingredients

　　4 large eggs

　　2/3 cup granulated sugar

　　1/2 teaspoon almond extract

　　1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

　　1 cup all-purpose flour

　　1/2 cup almonds with the skins, toasted lightly, cooled, and ground  coarse

　　1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

　　confectioners' sugar for dusting the madeleines

　　In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the eggs with the granulated sugar until the mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted and beat in the almond extract and the zest. Sift the flour in 4 batches over the mixture, folding it in gently after each addition, add the almonds and the butter, and fold them in gently but thoroughly. Spoon the batter into twenty-four 3- by 2-inch buttered madeleine molds and bake the madeleines in the lower third of a preheated 375°F oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Turn the madeleine out on racks, let them cool, and sift the confectioners' sugar over them.