Madeleines Au Miel

The delectable French cakes made famous by Marcel Proust in his book À la recherche du temps perdus. "I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…" Perfect with a cup of hot tea, or simply on their own. This is a slight variation of the classic cookie, with a touch of honey. This is a recipe originally in French. The translations into English units works but I highly recommend weighing the ingredients if you can. Also, French flour and American flour are a bit different, to make the best substitution use three parts all purpose to one part cake flour. Be sure to butter your pans very well to preserve the madeleine shape. Bonne dégustation !

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 24
• Yields: 23 madeleines

Ingredients

• 125  g  melted butter (1 stick and about a half tablespoon)
• 3  eggs (best at room temperature, put whole eggs in warm water for 5 mn)
• 130  g caster sugar (granulated is fine, or pulse it a couple of times in the food processor)
• 1  tablespoon honey
• 150  g flour, about 1 cup all purpose, 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
•  zest of one lemon
• 1  pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Whip by hands the eggs, sugar, and honey until frothy.
3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, melted butter, and lemon zest. Mix well.
4. Butter the madeleine molds and fill halfway.
5. Cook for 5 - 7 minutes, until the madeleines are a golden color.
6. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove to cooking rack.
7. Options: Sprinkle with powdered sugar or, once cooled, dip in melted chocolate.