Photography: Robyn Lea
Madeleines are little sponge cakes that originated in France and are perfect for a high tea or brunch. These madeleines, flavoured with the delicate flavour of honey, are absolutely divine served with the accompanying orange blossom lemon cream. However, they are just as yummy on their own. If you do make the orange blossom lemon cream, you will need to start a day in advance. You’ll also need a food thermometer. The recipe makes a generous amount, but leftover cream needn’t be wasted; it’s a delicious accompaniment to any dessert in need of cream. The madeleines are also perfect paired with a mix of berries, such as mulberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries.
For more madeleine recipes, try these chocolate madeleines or lemon madeleines. We’ve also got you sorted if you’re looking for more high tea recipes.
Ingredients
Method
For the cream, whisk the lemon juice, eggs, yolks and sugar in a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the mixture reaches 82°C. Remove from the heat and cool to around 60°C. You want the mixture to be warm enough to soften the butter, but not as hot as straight off the boil. Add the salt and orange blossom essence and whisk, slowly adding chunks of butter, until the mixture is a smooth and silky consistency.
Transfer the cream to a container and seal with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. It will keep in the refrigerator for 4–5 days.
For the madeleines, melt the butter and honey together in a saucepan and set aside to cool completely. When cooled, transfer to a food processor, add the eggs, sugars, flour and baking powder and mix until just combined. Take care not to overwork the batter: just ensure the sugar and flour have no clumps. Leave the batter to rest for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 200°C (fan-forced).
Pipe or spoon the mixture into the shells of a lightly greased madeleine tin and bake for 8 minutes. If the mixture has run over the edges of the shell during baking, simply trim any excess to give more uniform madeleines, keeping the offcuts to use as a crumb.
Plate the madeleines with a decent dollop of lemon cream and top with fresh berries, such as mulberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries. Garnish with edible petals or flowers.
This is an edited extract from A Heide Harvest by Alice Crowe and Maximilian with photography by Robyn Lea, published by Thames & Hudson, $64.99.
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