Madeleines

Ingredients

• 125g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 110g caster sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, plus 20g melted for the tins
• Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 1 tbsp honey
• A pinch of fine salt
• 1 tsp orange flower water (optional)

Before you cook

• Melt the 125g of butter and set it aside to cool to lukewarm.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together.
• Grate the lemon zest finely.
• Have the madeleine tins to hand, along with 20g of melted butter and a pastry brush.

Steps

1. Whisk the eggs, extra yolk, sugar, honey and salt together for four minutes until pale, thick and roughly doubled in volume.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder over the surface and fold it in gently with a spatula.
3. Stir the lemon zest and the orange flower water into the cooled melted butter.
4. Pour the butter down the side of the bowl and fold it in until the batter is glossy and no streaks remain.
5. Cover the bowl and chill the batter in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight.
6. Brush the madeleine moulds thoroughly with melted butter, getting into every ridge, and dust them with flour.
7. Put the buttered tins in the freezer for twenty minutes.
8. Heat the oven to 210C fan.
9. Spoon the cold batter into the cold moulds, filling each shell about three quarters full without spreading it out.
10. Slide the tin into the oven and immediately drop the temperature to 180C fan.
11. Bake for eight to ten minutes, until the humps have risen and the edges are golden but the centres are still pale.
12. Rap the tin sharply on the counter to release the madeleines.
13. Cool them ridged side up on a rack, and eat them the same day.