Madeleines with honey, lavender & dark chocolate

Besides macarons, I would say that madeleines are quintessentially French cakes which are light and airy and dipped in lovely rich dark chocolate. There are many versions of this delicious French cake/sponge.

I made this Jamie Oliver's version of madeleines with honey and lavender many, many times and they are always so, so delicious.

Ingredients:

100g butter, melted
100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 whole egg, separated, plus 1 extra egg white
75g caster sugar
1 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp finely chopped culinary-grade lavender
50g dark chocolate

Method:

Preheat your oven to 170ºC/340ºF/gas 4 and butter your madeleine mould using a pastry brush or your fingertips coated in a little of the melted butter from the recipe. Sprinkle some plain flour onto the buttered tin and shake off the excess – this will stop the mixture sticking to the delicate shell pattern in the tin.

In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, egg yolks, honey and lavender together first, then add in the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites thoroughly in a separate bowl until they stand up nice and tall in peaks. We’re looking for stiff peaks here, not soft ones, so we are incorporating as much air as possible to keep the cakes light and soft as they’re baking.

Once the egg whites are ready, fold them into the first mixture. This is probably easiest using a spatula, in two or three separate goes – again, use the lightest touch possible and mix for as little time as possible – until just combined – to keep as much air in in the mix as possible.

Using two teaspoons to scoop up and cleanly push the mixture, fill each little mould in your tin, filling right up to the rim of each shell shape. Once full, tap the tray lightly on your work surface to make sure that the mixture fills each of the little ridges of the shell shape fully.

Bake for around 8-10 minutes, or until just turning golden brown at the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Meanwhile, half-fill a pan with water and bring it to a simmer over a medium heat. Place a glass bowl on top and add the chocolate, then leave to melt, stirring occasionally.

Once cool, you can dip the Madeleines into the melted chocolate. To get a pretty shape, hold what would be the bottom of the shell shape and dip half of each madeleine into the chocolate – its easiest if you top the chocolate into a narrow cup so you get enough depth of chocolate to fully dip. Hold the madeleine straight and allow the excess to drip off – ensure that you place the cakes with the shell indentation side up to set, on a cooling rack or clean work surface.
Once the chocolate has set they are ready to enjoy.

Usually classic version of madeleines with lemon goes really well with gentle white tea like Jasmin Silverneedle White Tea, but with this version of madeleines I would highly recommend our Finest Assam Tonganagaon Earl Grey Black Tea.
Enjoy!

For tricks and tips you can always send me a message.