French Food Friday...Easy Madeleines

recipe and photo from here

Bonjour mes belles,

I hope that you have had a nice week. Mine has been busy and has involved playing nurse as French Boyfriend has come down with flu or as the French call it grippe and this is the worst strain in 2 years. I decided that he starting cheering up so I thought that some baking may help. Started by making cheese scones which he did not like one bit.

I thought that a batch of madeleines may go down well but was interrupted by a local French lady who wanted to make a reservation and was well impressed when I opened the door wearing an apron.

The French are laid back when it comes to cooking and appear to be experts in whipping up a cake whilst carrying out other tasks at the same time.

It gave me a bit of a shock as I thought that it was our expected guests arriving earlier than anticipated.  Back to the cooking I went whilst French Boyfriend watched cautiously...

Nothing like a French man watching over your shoulder, at a time when he is normally at work and I surprise him with the finished article when he arrives home.

Note this is the first time that I used this recipe and the only tips that I would add, are as follows...

Stir in the melted butter last of all and be careful not to overfill the moulds as they should only be 3/4 full.
I rested the mixture for only 20 minutes as I was in a hurry but if you have the time, rest the mixture in the fridge for a couple of hours as this aids in creating the humps which they are known for.

Lastly I left them in the oven for 10 minutes but suspect that 8 minutes would have been sufficient.

They went down a treat with French Boyfriend and I am planning on making more later this morning.

Madeleines

Bake a batch of these buttery little French cakes to have with a cup of tea or coffee.

Equipment and preparation: You will need a 12-cup madeleine tray.

Ingredients
2 free-range eggs

100g/3½oz (1/2 cup) caster sugar

100g/3½oz (1 cup) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 lemon, juice and zest

¾ tsp baking powder

100g/3½oz butter (1/2 cup), melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing

Preparation method
1.Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Brush the madeleine tray with melted butter then shake in a little flour to coat, tapping out the excess.

2.Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a bowl until frothy. Lightly whisk in the remaining ingredients. Leave to stand for 20 minutes before carefully pouring into the prepared madeleine tray.

3.Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture has risen a little in the middle and is fully cooked through. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes to cool slightly. These are best eaten within an hour of cooking.

très bon vendredi à tous, leeann x