Lavender and Honey Madeleines

Lavender? In a cake? I know what you’re thinking…“Are you serious Kate?” “You’re just trying to get too clever…and failed.” “Do you not understand that flowers go in a vase not in baking, Kate.” “Oh yuck, that sounds disgusting.” – yes that last one’s a direct quote from my darling, and clearly supportive, mother while she screwed up her face.

{Similar Mini Madeleine Tin}

I know, I know there were times when I was coming up with this recipe when I was thinking the same thing. But…lavender and honey really works. Yes, my Lavender and Honey Madeleines are delicious. They are delicate, light, fragrant and surprisingly the lavender just works. You may think it sounds strange but once you try them I guarantee you’ll think otherwise.

For such a long time I really didn’t ‘get’ madeleines. I thought they were tasteless and just a plain waste of calories. Why waste calories on a boring sponge when I could be eating chocolate, lots of dark chocolate? Well times have changed and I really do love them now. At times you want a flavour bomb, a flavour explosion that knocks the socks off your tastebuds and at times you want subtle, delicate flavours which the French just do so well. Madeleines are just that, they have a delicate flavour with a beautifully light texture and I think they are perfect eaten just after they have been baked, leave them too long (like the next day) and they are still okay to eat but you loose that lovely light airy inside and crispy shell. Keeping with the delicate theme, the addition of lavender and honey is very subtle – don’t worry, you won’t feel like you’re eating a bowl of potpourri or an air freshener! It’s just a very light background flavour along with the vanilla and butter. It is best to leave your batter overnight before you bake them and to bake them in a convection oven so that you get the little quintessential ’bubble’ on top of the cakes, but don’t fret if you aren’t organised enough to do that (welcome to my world, I’m certainly not most of the time) just make sure you leave the batter for at least an hour before baking. If you have to bake them in a regular oven, you might not get the ‘bubble’ but who cares right? Not a big problem they will still taste the same. Lastly, you can choose to spoon the batter into the moulds but without a doubt it is easier if you pipe them in. All you need to do is scoop the batter into a ziplock bag and cut off one of the corners then pipe away. Easy!

Hope I’ve convinced you all to try these delectable treats, so enjoy!

xo Kate

{Similar Mini Madeleine Tin}

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Lavender and Honey Madeleines

Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time 9 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 24 minutes

Servings 24 mini or 12 full size

Author My Little Larder

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup + 1Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp dried lavender
• 1 free range egg
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 50 g/1.75oz unsalted butter melted + approx 1 Tbsp extra for greasing the moulds
• unrefined or regular icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Place flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the egg and honey for 5 minutes until pale and creamy and doubled in volume. Fold in half the flour mixture, then fold in the second half until just combined. Pour in the melted butter and fold until just combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or ideally overnight.
3. When ready to bake the madeleines remove the batter from the refrigerator and then preheat the oven to 180C/350F on fan-bake. Brush the moulds with melted butter then place in the refrigerator or freezer to harden the butter.
4. Pipe (or spoon) the mixture into the moulds and tap the bottom of the mould against the bench to smooth the top of the batter.
5. Bake for 5-7 minutes for mini-madeleines, as I have done, 7-9 minutes for full-size, or until the tops are lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven, remove the madeleines from the moulds and transfer immediately to a wire rack to cool.
6. Dust with unrefined (or regular) icing sugar before serving.
7. Best eaten on the day they are baked, but will keep for up to 1 day in an air tight container.

Method is adapted from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery.