Here classic French madeleines are given a Middle Eastern twist. These make great edible gifts and are wonderful for Christmas or as a Valentine’s Day treat or breakfast. Note that if you don’t have a madeleine tin, you can use a 12-well muffin tin. In that case, the cakes will be larger and will take about 18 minutes to bake.
Prep time 25 minutes/Cook time 25 minutes/Makes 24 (plus 60 minutes chilling)
Ingredients:
6 fat cardamom pods
2 medium eggs
85g (3 oz) caster sugar
2 tsp clear honey
Finely-grated zest of 2 oranges
90g (1/2 cup, scant) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra to grease
90g (3/4 cup) plain flour, plus extra to dust
½ tsp baking powder
a pinch of fine sea salt
a dusting of icing sugar, to serve (optional)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6).
Crush the cardamom pods to extract the seeds – discard the husks, and grind the seeds to a powder.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and creamy. Add the honey, cardamom and orange zest, and mix well. Incorporate the cooled butter, followed by the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until evenly combined. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour (this can also be done the day before, if you wish).
Melt a little extra butter and, using a pastry brush, coat 2 x 12-hole madeleine moulds, greased generously with melted butter, then dust with flour, shaking off any excess.
Put a scant tablespoon of the batter in each mould, transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until nicely golden brown and risen. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes, so that they start to release from the tin. Once cool enough to touch, unmould and dust with a little icing sugar, to serve.
Once baked, they will keep for up to four days in an air-tight tin.
