orangey honey madeleines

aren’t those beautiful humps? I feel like such a proud mama – I watched these grow while standing by the door of my oven and couldn’t get over myself when that tiny bit of a hump broke through the smooth surface of batter.

if you don’t know what I mean, please go cry yourself into a corner then perhaps I should explain that madeleines (depending on which school of thought you belong too) are deemed to be successful when they have a little hump on their undersides – this is caused by the temperature difference between cold batter and hot oven. I’ve read somewhere that french people actually prefer a flatter madeleine, and that the hump is an american preference – but I belong to neither of those cultures and so getting a hump (if the recipe says it will) just proves to me that I’m doing something right!

these are a recipe I adapted from la tartine gourmande, and I also rested the (otherwise easy) batter in the fridge overnight – it feels to me like flavours meld better after resting. be sure to butter your molds very well, and serve these with a sprinkle of powdered sugar over the top! the white gilds the indents of the madeleines very prettily. the biggest change I did was to brown the butter before baking – this gives it a very subtly nutty flavour, which goes brilliantly with the orange zest and honey – and my mum absolutely loved this.

orange and honey madeleines (adapted from la tartine gourmande)

3 eggs, room temperature
148g all purpose flour + barely 0.5 tsp salt
113g unsalted butter
127g sugar
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey

1. brown the butter in a non-stick pan until it is fragrant, then let it cool. sift the flour with the baking powder and salt, set aside.
2. beat the eggs, then add the sugar, honey and zest and continue beating until white and light – that is, highly fluffy and very pale in colour.
   
3. sift in the flour, and fold in. fold in the butter gently. now cover the batter with clingwrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate for at least two hours.
4. about half an hour before you want to bake the madeleines, preheat your oven to 215C. grease your madeleine pans thoroughly with some butter on a brush.
5. fill the molds about three-quarter full with the batter, and place in the oven. bake at 215C for 6 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175C and bake for another 4-5 minutes until golden.
6. remove the madeleines from the moulds immediately and let cool completely on a rack.