Hello, everyone!
Spring is almost here (yeah, it is spring in the calendar but not outdoors). In Norway, we especially are looking forward to this time. We start getting more sun, longer days and still have a lot of snow (if you like skiing- this is a perfect time to visit Norway). Last week was especially sunny with breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, but suddenly everything has changed yesterday. It has been snowing for two days, almost no sun and this weather changes has influence my choice of recipe that i want to shear with you this week.
Cold and grey days inspire me to bake something light and delicious, that taste so good with warm cup of tea. I have checked many recipes online and in books I have, but the one I am making together with you this time is published in one of my favourite books by French chef who lives in Norway – Pascal.
The ingredients:
- Eggs – 4 average size
- Sugar – 180 g
- Flour – 275 g
- Baking powder – 15 g
- Unsalted butter – 225g
- Honey – 50 g
- Lemon zest from 1/2 of lemon – ca. 1 tablespoon
Step 1. Whip eggs with sugar
The first step is very easy, we need to whip eggs with sugar until sugar totally dissolves (it takes about 10 minutes with a help of hand mixer or food processor). If you do it by hand, it may take a bit longer time. I used my Kenwood machine for about 10 minutes at the highest speed.
Step 2. Make batter and let it rest for 1 hour
At this step we need to mix flour, baking powder and honey in the whipped eggs with sugar. I did it by using minimal speed at my Kenwood machine (for about 2-3 minutes), but I would recommend to do it yourself by using spatula. We need to mix all ingredients until they are totally combined, and then let it rest for an hour (DON’T put it in the fridge). Set a timer to 50 minutes, and use last 10 minutes to set oven to warm up to 200 degrees Celsius.
While our batter is resting, we need to melt 225 g of unsalted butter and let it cool down. I did it in the casserole under low temperature (took about 10 minutes).
Step 3. Finishing the batter
The last details for finishing our batter are adding melted before unsalted butter and lemon zest. First incorporate a butter until you nice and silk mixture (like in the picture below), and then mix in a lemon zest.
Step 4. Baking madeleine
Distribute batter in the form* for baking madeleine (I use mine for the first time) and set it to bake for 8 minutes. I have only one form, so I washed it in between the batches, and I had in total 3 batches + 2 madeleine in the fourth batch.
*Unfortunately, the form that I have given me a bit of troubles of getting pastry from the form, when it was done. What to do if your madeleine sticked to the form. First of all, wait about a minute before taking them out. Second step is to use a small knife and be careful – take your time. Next time you use this form just spray over a form fat (you can find it in the stores) or use some vegetable oil and your fingers.
