Honey Madeleines

I was very excited to receive a Madeleine tin for Christmas  I had been craving one, bearing in mind I had never even tried a Madeline it was an odd tin to crave.

As it turns out my cravings were spot on, I fell in love with Madeleine's after my first bite. I am not usually a honey fan, finding it a bit sweet, but I love its flavour and it works beautifully in these.  I have actually made them a couple of times but without access to my camera so its taken a while for me to share them here.

For the uninitiated a Madeleine is of French origin (so I believe, feel free to correct me if I am wrong), traditionally flavoured with honey and made in a special Madeleine tin, giving the cake a shell-like shape.

There does not seem to be a hard and fast way to make these and so the recipe below is my take on the basic Madeleine. Apologies for the photos, my oven is a hot oven and I forgot to compensate and my Madeleine turned a wee bit darker than I would have liked. Still yummy though and there is a  photo to prove that the inside is light and fluffy!

Honey Madeleine

makes ~15

75g butter
1 egg
120g caster sugar
83g plain flour
15g honey

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C FAN and lightly grease your Madeleine tin. Gently melt the butter, then side aside to cool. 

Whisk the egg and sugar until thick, moussey and very pale in colour. Add the flour and gently fold in with a melted spoon. When the flour is almost incorporated add about a tablespoon of the melted butter and fold in. Add half the remaining butter and continue to fold in, once it is incorporated add the remaining butter and fold in. Add the honey and fold in until there are no swirls of butter or honey remaining. You should be left with a lovely glossy mix.

Fill each Madeleine mould ~3/4 full. Don't worry it the batter does not spread to fill it, it will do this as it bakes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. 

When completely cool dust with icing sugar.

These are at their most delicious on the day that they are made. They will however keep in a tin for a day or so, they will become slightly more dense and sticky but still taste good.