Solub Arome Madeline
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.13 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Solubarome Madeleine @ 3 and 6%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 16 days.
Flavor Description: I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a good grasp of real madeleines, but wikipedia (which is never wrong) says it similar to a lighter sponge cake, using whole eggs and often with some almond paste in there. And that seems like a pretty good description, although i'd maybe argue a bit about the whole eggs here. No sooner had the warm vapor touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. It's definitely a cake flavor. A little bit lighter than the cake from a yellow cake flavor, and no frosting note to speak of. It could totally be the power of suggestion, but I think I can pick up a bit of a softer almond flavor somewhere in there. It's pretty similar to a light bakery vanilla, but just a bit nuttier. I'm missing some of the richness I'd expect from whole eggs, might skew a bit closer to an angel food cake but there seems to be an errant butter note in there. I'd use as a dry, sweet cake component in the places where you want a sponge cake, starting at about 5% and working up.
Inhale is mostly just sweet and a little dry. Some grain here, but a pretty good sugary as opposed to sucralose sweetness. Exhale is a bit more complex. Again, dry sweet cake. No yellow or frosting here. Sponge cake dryness, with some of that lightly carmelized cake batter taste that could pass as slighty nutty or almondish if you squint really hard. Could also be a light vanilla. Texture is fluffy, with a bit of grain to it. Nothing really heavy, hard, or super rich here, but there is just a light butteryness to it. Sweetness is really straight ahead white cake and manages to pull off the effect of a heavily sweetened angel food cake pretty well. Some drier harshness in there as well. Finish is really clean, sweetness fades out really quickly.
Off-flavors: It's the damndest thing, but I get some anise out of this down low. Seems to scale back at about 5%.
Throat Hit: Light? Nothing too major. Pretty straight ahead harshness on the exhale, but it's definitely light side. Might just be the dryness here.
Uses & Pairings: This might be a better option for a lighter cake flavor than just underflavoring a yellow cake. The sponge cake thing would definitely work, and I don't think it's far off from angel food with just a bit of a butter note added. If you want a distinct cake sweetness and texture, without richer eggy notes, you could definitely do worse, especially if you flavor heavy enough to get past that anise.
I'd stay away from heavy frostings, and instead go with more whipped creams like FW Sweet Cream or CAP Vanilla Whipped Cream. With fruit pairings, I'd stay with some lighter, tarter takes on berries. Brighter strawberries and blueberries jump out.
Good cake for lighter citrus notes like adding some zest to the batter.
Notes: Chef's is recommending 5-10%, and that isn't terrible advice. Needs a heavy hand to get going. Starting at 3%, i get a pretty distinct anise off-note and some dryness without much texture. 4% is still too weak and anise-y. 5% moves away from the anise note. Fluffy texture starting to come in. I don't get much anise at all at 6%, just fluffy cake texture. 7% is solid, maybe a bit nuttier than 6%, which is nice. 8% is getting a bit too dry. Good texture but the dry thing is outstripping the texture. 9% is starting to taste a bit chemical and dry. I'd probably start with this at 5% and work up.
Second Opinions:
It's all mangled google translate from here on out.
Shoutout to /u/ID10-T for the suggestion.