Citrus Madeleines

Gummy Bear's favourite colour is pink. He adores it and I find his total adoration for anything pink absolutely cute. Now pink in his little mind is anything from a dusky shade of rose to bright candy floss pink to peachy orange. Works for me! It means I can push anything coloured within that spectrum and he would happily eat it.

Over the weekend I was experimenting with Serge Dansereau's madeleine biscuit recipe. I made smaller, crispier biscuits and then some large, spongy madeleines. I added a good mix of lemon and orange peel to get that delightful citrus tang and combined red and yellow food colouring to get a beautiful peach hue.

Citrus Madeleines

Gummy Bear called them "pink cakes" and walked around with two in each hand. In the middle of my photo shoot when I walked away from the shot to get a few props, I returned to find a tiny crumb on the plate where just minutes ago were two madeleines. Later when I tasted one, I could totally understand his devotion to the little pink cakes.

Citrus Madeleines

 

 Citrus Madeleines

 

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recipe

CITRUS MADELEINES

preparation time - 20 minutes + 1 hour (resting time)
baking time - 15 minutes
makes - 30

Ingredients

150g butter
4 free range eggs
1 cup caster sugar
150g plain flour, extra for dusting
1/2 cup almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
4 drops red food colouring + 10 drops yellow food colouring
icing sugar for dusting

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan until it acquires a golden colour and a slightly nutty taste for approximately 8 minutes on low to medium heat. Set aside to cool.

Put eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add butter and whisk for another minute. Sift flour and baking powder over the egg mixture. Add almond meal, food colours and zest. Mix until a smooth dough forms. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside for an hour.

Preheat oven to 160°C. After an hour, give the mixture a good stir with a wooden spoon. Spoon or pipe the madeleine batter into greased and floured  madeleine moulds. Bake the madeleines for approximately 15 minutes until golden and risen.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in their moulds before turning out onto a wire rack and dusting with icing sugar.

Notes

This precise method of baking and cooling on wire racks will give you a slight crunch on the outside. If you prefer softer madeleines, then transfer them straight to an airtight container fresh out of the oven. The steam from the warm madeleines softens the exterior and you get gorgeous cake-y madeleines.

 

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