Madeleines

For some reason unbeknown to me, Hubs has been nagging me to bake madeleines for months. I've always thought they look pretty dull, but as he's a complete Francophile he insisted they were sophisticated. Finally i relented, desperate for some peace and quiet!

As it turns out they are lovely! And so simple to make, the whole process only takes 20 minutes so its ideal if you need to make something in a hurry. Chances are you'll have all the ingredients in your store cupboard too.

So to make 9 madeleines you will need:

1 medium egg
1 large orange (for the zest)
55g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter (plus extra for the moulds)
50g sifted self-raising flour
dash of vanilla essence
Icing sugar for decoration

Firstly you need to pre-heat your oven to 190c and use some butter to grease the madeleine moulds.

Next whisk up the egg and caster sugar into a paste, then add the flour, softened butter and orange zest. Finally add some vanilla essence before whisking up into a paste.

Now place your mixture into the madeleine moulds using a teaspoon to even out. The madeleines will need to bake for approximately 7-8 minutes.

Once the madeleines have cooked, leave them for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. To make them look even prettier, decorate with a teaspoon of sifted icing sugar and serve with a nice brew.

Simple! x