Skip to content
Open menu Close menu

Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

penguin logo

Lemon and Honey Madeleines

by Lindsey Bareham from The Trifle Bowl and Other Tales

Who can resist French madeleine cakes? This recipe for madeleines from food writer Lindsey Bareham is so simple and the cakes are light and fluffy, flavoured delicately with lemon and honey. A perfect sweet treat.

From the book

Introduction

I love these pretty little cakes warm from the oven. If you don’t own a special madeleine baking tray, use a tart tray. They erupt, Vesuvius-like, as they bake but it is the ridged underside that gives them their distinctive puppy paw look. Eat them as they are, or dusted with icing sugar. These madeleines look very pretty smeared with a lemon glaze, made by mixing 75g of icing sugar with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and a smidgin of water. Another idea is to dip one end in melted chocolate. Delicious with a cuppa or a cappuccino, they also go with jelly, milk puddings and ice cream.

Read more Read less

Ingredients

75g butter, plus an extra knob
1 unwaxed lemon
2 eggs
50g caster sugar
3 tbsp runny honey
100g plain flour, plus a little extra
1/2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

Essential kit

You will need an electric mixer, and a madeleine or tart tray.

Method

Melt the butter. Finely grate 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Stir the zest into the melted butter and leave for 10 minutes.

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and caster sugar until pale, thick and fluffy. Add the honey and beat for a further couple of minutes.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones, followed by the lemon butter, to make a thick, smooth batter.

Stretch a sheet of clingfilm over the bowl, sagging to skim the batter, and chill for an hour, after which the mixture will have thickened and turned spongy.

Heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

If using a metal mould, butter 12 indentations, dust with flour and shake out the excess. If using a silicone mould, this shouldn’t be necessary. Put a spoonful of mix into each mould so they are three-quarters full. Place on a middle shelf of the oven and bake for 10–14 minutes, until golden, swollen in the middle and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

If using a tin mould, tap on the side to loosen the cakes before turning out on to a cake rack to cool. A silicone mould should peel away.

Reviews

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use.

There are no comments yet

Be the first to leave a review

More Family Friendly Recipes


View all

newsletter

Subscribe to The Happy Foodie email newsletter

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week