Honey Madeleines

Guess who got a madeleine pan for Christmas! I'm too legit to quit, so I thought I would re-post this recipe for you. If you don't have a fancy pan, just use a cupcake pan. They will taste just as good...

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Madeleines from a cupcake pan.

I tried my first madeleine while working at a coffee shop in college. They looked sorta plain, but once I took a bite and the buttery, vanilla cake-iness melted in my mouth, I was a convert. There is something about the slightly dense fluffiness of the crumb that I love. Friends at another cafe made me try madeleines topped with whipped cream, which I highly recommend--if you don't mind an approximately 1,000 calorie snack.


I don't make a habit of eating madeleines all the time, mind you. But, ever since I saw a recipe for them in Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook, I've been itching to make them. Of course, you need a special madeleine pan to make madeleines, so I've been eying those madeleine molds enviously every time I enter a cooking store fancy enough to carry them. It just seemed a little beyond my budget to fork out major dough for something that would be used on such a limited basis. Still, I couldn't help day dreaming a bit when I came across one.

Recently, I cut out a madeleine recipe from Bon Appetit that called for lavender honey. I don't have fancy honey and I don't have a fancy pan, but I decided to make them anyway. I figured a cupcake pan was similar enough that it just might work...

And, lo and behold--they turned out just fine, minus the pretty fluting and scalloped shape that typically defines a madeleine. But, you know what, they taste damn good regardless. Now, where's the whipped cream...

Honey Madeleines

~Print Recipe~

Authentic madeleine shape. They taste the same, though...

• 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter)
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour or almond meal
• 1 tablespoon honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter each mold or the cupcake pan and dust with flour, tapping out the excess. 
2. Melt 9 tablespoons butter in a medium (light colored) skillet or a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until butter turns golden brown, stirring often. (It's harder to see the color of the butter in a dark pan.) Set browned butter aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites, sugar, all purpose flour and almond flour in a medium bowl until smooth. 
4. Place honey in a small, microwave safe bowl and heat until just warm, 5-10 seconds. Beat honey into batter. Beat in browned butter.
5. Spoon two tablespoons of batter into each mold. Bake until the tops are just dry and a tester comes out clean, about 14-16 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Tap madeleines out of mold onto the rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.

Yield: 12 madeleines

Indian Chai

"Chai" can mean many different types of tea. (In fact, chai actually means tea in multiple languages.) Real Indian chai, the kind you get from chai-wallahs in India, is not quite the same brew you get here in the U.S. Now don't get me wrong---I love a good soy chai latte from a certain coffee chain here, but it's just in a different category.

After watching a friend's mother make masala chai in her kitchen in Mumbai, I was inspired to learn how to make it myself. It's not particularly difficult, you just need the right spices. And, of course, black tea. Oh yes, and plenty of half and half--if you want it to taste authentic.

I bought my tea in Mysore, India, from a roadside bulk tea vendor, but it's possible to get it mail-order in the states (and possibly at some specialty markets). The CTC on the package means that it's "crush-tear-curl" processed, which makes the tea leaves end up looking like this.

The nice thing is that all you really have to do is throw everything in a pot and let it boil together for about 15 minutes. The hard part is that you should stir it constantly, or at least very frequently. I didn't have any half and half, so the tea pictured above is made with soy---a hybrid of my two favorite types of chai.

The recipe below is for one cup of chai, but it can easily be doubled (or otherwise scaled up). Much of the liquid cooks off, concentrating the flavors.

Indian Chai

~Print Recipe~

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 tsp black tea
• 3 whole cardamom pods
• 2 pea-sized pieces mashed fresh ginger*
• 1/2 stick cinnamon (or more if it's not fresh)
• 3-4 black peppercorns
• Sugar to taste (I used 2 teaspoons)
  

1. Stir all ingredients together in a small pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring very frequently. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil and stir for 15 minutes. Stir in sugar to dissolve.
   
2. Remove from heat. Strain through a fine mesh strainer (or cheese cloth) either directly into the cup or into another pot. I used a molinillo to create a little froth before I served it.

*Recipes I've seen recipes that say not to substitute any ground spices for those listed above, but I didn't have fresh ginger and a dash of ground served my tastes just fine.