From sunday times
Heston Blumenthal’s Madeleines
Makes 10
125g unsalted butter, plus a little for the mould (I would cut down the butter)
100g icing sugar
40g ground almonds
40g plain flour, plus a little for the mould
3 large egg whites (or I used 2 full egg and it's equally nice)
2 tsp best-quality honey
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
Salt
100g icing sugar
40g ground almonds
40g plain flour, plus a little for the mould
3 large egg whites (or I used 2 full egg and it's equally nice)
2 tsp best-quality honey
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
Salt
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Melt the butter over a medium heat for a few minutes until it starts to sizzle and has a nice nutty scent — beurre noisette. Strain and set aside.
Sieve the icing sugar, ground almonds and flour into a bowl. Using a fork, whisk the egg whites into the dry mix. Next, add the honey and continue to whisk. Incorporate the warm — but not hot —beurre noisette and lemon zest and mix until homogenous. Add a little salt to taste.
Leave the madeleine mixture to rest in the fridge (covered with clingfilm pressed onto the surface) for at least an hour. Resting the dough is important, as the gluten relaxes and produces a lighter result.
Butter a madeleine mould and lightly dust with flour. (This double coating really works as a nonstick surface — you don’t want to be struggling with removing the madeleines while the tea is stewing.) Fill the moulds with the madeleine mixture and return to the fridge for half an hour to rest again (please be patient).
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, turn out from the tin and leave to cool on a cake rack for 5 minutes before serving.
