HONEY SPICED MADELEINES

HONEY SPICED MADELEINES image

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (or a little less, if you prefer)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Steps:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and pepper and keep at hand. Working in a mixer bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment, or work in a bowl with a handheld mixer or a whisk, add the eggs to the bowl and beat until the mixture is light colored, fluffy and thickened, about 2 minutes; beat in the honey, then the vanilla. Switch to a rubber spatula and very gently fold in the dry ingredients followed by the melted butter. You can use the batter now, but it's better if you give it a little rest. Spoon the batter into madeleine molds, cover, chill, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge. When you're ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes and the minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the madeleines are golden and the tops spring back when prodded gently. Remove the pan from the oven, turn it over onto a heatproof surface and peel it away from the madeleines. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just-warm or room temperature. Serving: When you're ready to serve the cookies, give them a dusting of confectioner's sugar. Like traditional madeleines, these are good with tea, but because of the spices, they're also very good with espresso. And, as unorthodox as the combination may be, they pair well with single-malt whisky and armagnac, too. Storing: Madeleines are really best served just warm or at room temperature the day they are made. Leftovers should be kept in a closely covered container and, if you've got them long enough for them to have gone stale, dunk them in whatever you're drinking.