Lemon and honey madeleines

I first made madeleines very early in my career, perhaps 8 or 9 year ago! (God I am old!). Some might say they are tricky but don’t worry with my help , you are just a few steps away from pillowy, soft, scalloped shell looking teacakes. There is a debate whether madeleines are cookies or tiny cakes, but their light and delicate texture definitely categorizes them as cakes.  In this big world there are loads of ways to make these beauties but our madeleines will start with a sponge-like batter called genoise which is heavily found in European baking. This recipe gets most of its volume from the beaten eggs and sugar. We will also use brown butter which is essentially butter that has been gently simmered until you achieve a nutty and caramel look. You can definitely skip this step and just use melted butter but trust me once you try it you will want to use it in all your bakes!  We will also finish the madeleines with a honey and lemon glaze just to give them a shiny and luxurious look.

Ingredients for the lemon and honey madeleines

• Plain flour: Plain flour or all purpose flour is perfect for this recipe as we want to achieve a light and airy batter.
• Eggs: We need medium eggs for this recipe. Make sure they are at room temperature.
• Caster sugar: Caster sugar has a light texture and will help us get a better volume, compared to granulated sugar.
• Whole milk: Use the full fat version and make sure that it’s at room temperature. You can also put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
• Baking powder: It will help us achieve the distinctive risen middle of the madeleine.
• Lemon zest: Lemon is a classic addition to a madeleine and gives a much needed zinginess.
• Brown butter: You will notice that the recipe asks for 130g of butter but you will only use 70g. That happens as when we heat up and reduce the butter, we will lose about one third of it. It really does depend on how dark and nutty you prefer your butter. The more you simmer it the more you will lose, so starting with 130g of butter is perfect for me that I like a golden brown colour. If you do choose to not brown your butter just use 70g of melted butter.
• Honey: Use a good quality honey if you can. We will use honey for both the batter and the glaze to give some extra flavour of honey.
• Lemon juice: We will only use lemon juice for our glaze just to add some tanginess.
• Vanilla pod: Of course you can use vanilla essence instead but I can never resist the freshness and aroma of a fresh vanilla pod.

For the madeleines (makes 25-28 madeleines/ 18g each)

• 130g butter (we will only need 70g for the recipe after it has been browned)
• 15g honey
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 medium eggs
• 100g caster sugar
• 70g whole milk
• 160g plain flour
• 5g baking powder

For the honey glaze

• 50g honey
• Juice from half a lemon
• Seeds from half a vanilla pod

How to make the browned butter

1. Start by making the browned butter so it can be cooled slightly.
2. Cut butter into chunks, place them in a saucepan and set the heat to medium.
3. Allow the butter to melt, stirring often so that it melts evenly.
4. At the beginning the butter will become cloudy and foamy.
5. As it continues to cook the butter will become clear.
6. At this point you will see milk solids start to form on the bottom of the pan and when they turn gold the butter will turn golden brown as well.
7. When the butter has a nutty aroma and a caramel colour, take the pan off the heat and pour the butter into a clean jar or bowl.
8. We will use the butter when it is just melted but not hot.

How to make the lemon and honey madeleines 

1. Preheat the oven at 180C.
2. Use a handheld or standing mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk together the eggs and sugar together on high for 6-8 minutes. The mixture should be thick, pale and form ribbons when you lift the whisk.
3. Add the honey, lemon zest and whisk until just combined.
4. For the rest of the steps you will only need a big metal* or wooden spoon.
5. In a medium bowl combine the plain flour and baking powder.
6. We will begin adding our dry ingredients (flour and baking powder) and wet ingredients (milk) in two to three additions*.
7. Start by adding about 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Make sure you are handling this batter very gently as it is very delicate.
8. Next add half of your room temperature milk and fold.
9. Keep alternating between wet and dry ingredients and finish with the last of your dry ingredients.
10. Stir about ¼ of your batter into the melted brown butter*. It will take about a minute or so to fully incorporate so do not worry if it looks split. Then stir it all into the rest of the batter.
11. I personally have not noticed a difference in refrigerating the batter before baking but if you want you can chill the mix for up to 30 minutes. Any longer the batter will begin to solidify.
12. Spray your madeleines moulds with either non stick spray or brush with some melted butter*.
13. Place about half of your mix in a piping bag. If you want to be precise you can pipe 18g into each mould or you can simply pipe halfway up the mould. If you don’t have a piping bag you can spoon about 1 tbsp into each mould. You don’t need to spread it, just plop it in the center.
14. Bake for 6-8 minutes*. The madeleines are done when the tops are still soft and have risen, and the edges are crisp and golden. Transfer the warm madeleines to a wire rack to lightly cool.

How to make the lemon and honey glaze

1. Place honey, lemon juice and seeds from half a vanilla pod into a small pan and gently warm up until everything is just combined.
2. You can also combine everything in a small bowl and warm up in the microwave.
3. Brush generously on the warm madeleines.
4. Enjoy while still warm 🙂  

Notes 

• Metal spoon is best for folding the flour with any kind of batter as it keeps the egg mixture nice and cold, preventing the batter from losing too much air.
• Adding all of the dry ingredients will cause the batter to be thick and likely result in over mixing, which will yield in a tougher cake.
• Sometimes the butter can be a bit too warm which will result in losing too much air from our cake mix. By adding some of the batter into the melted butter we bring the temperature down, making sure our mix remains aerated.
• By no means do not brush your moulds with melted butter and flour, especially if your moulds are metal like mine. The madeleines will burn on the bottom and won’t be very pleasant to eat.
• The baking time for the madeleines really depends on the moulds. Metal moulds cause the madeleines to heat quicker so it takes less time. If you cook your madeleines in silicon moulds, they will take a bit longer to cook and crisp up.
• Madeleines are really best consumed on the same day. It is actually best to store them in the freezer. They can last up to 6 months and you can defrost them in the microwave when you need them!

Meringue kisses
Athina  xx