French Madeleines

I have been wanting to make these for years, but never found the perfect recipe.

drum roll! Neill Anthony defined has the perfect recipe in his book " Private Chef"

I am a HUGE fan of Neill Anthony and his recipe book is a treasured addition to my collection.

His recipe is simple and effective, I did not make the lemon curd to hot chocolate to accompany the madeleines. I did however add some more lemon rind, I am a bug fan of lemons and had some beautiful ones from the local green grocer.

Neill Anthony Madeleine recipe - found in his book Private Chef

Ingredients:

300g castor sugar

40g brown sugar

10g baking powder

310g cake flour

8 eggs

360 butter, melted

plus extra for greasing

zest of 3 lemons ( I used 6 small lemons - I love the very lemony flavour, be careful not to add any of the bitter white pith)

Icing sugar for dusting

Add all the dry ingredients into a stand mixer - its best to sieve before to get rid of any bits.

Mix using a paddle, starting slowly

Carefully add the cracked eggs, followed by the melted butter and lemon zest

Beat on a medium speed for 2 minutes

Remove and rest in the fridge for 4 hours. The rest is imperative part of the recipe, you can rest for longer, I have had success at 6 hours.

Once rested, grease the madeleine moulds don't go silicon here, metal is best.

Be careful not to overfill the moulds, bake the large ones at a preheated oven set to 180 degrees celsius for 12 minutes or the minis for 7-8 minutes. Remove once golden.

Dust with icing sugar

enjoy