Madeleines

I first learned what these were from Friends, when Ross complains to the group about some tendencies of Emma's nanny, Freddie Prinze Jr., who apparently makes madeleines that are 'lighter than air'. I looked them up, and thought 'aghghg they need a separate pan, nah, fuck this'. More than 15 years later, I decided 'what the hell' and just bought the freaking pan.

Chocolate Orange Madeleines

This recipe comes from the Great British Bake Off. I altered it slightly to account for my own laziness, lack of equipment and and inability to decorate. The initial recipe (and pictures of what they're supposed to look like) can be found here: https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/chocolate-dipped-orange-madeleines/

I made the orange custard, but I did not pipe it into the cookies because I did not have a piping attachment small enough or the steady hands to do it. And I just plain couldn't be bothered at one in the morning when I finally got round to that stage of the damn things. I did dip the cookies into the custard to eat, and then ate the rest of it with a spoon, so, you know, it's still tasty.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

2 large eggs

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

zest of 2 unwaxed oranges

Orange curd:

2 egg yolks

zest and juice of 1 unwaxed orange

50g caster sugar

25g unsalted butter, diced

Chocolate Topping:

100g 70% dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

Instructions:

Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 400˚F / 200°C

Whisk together the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for 5 minutes until thick

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, then sift a quarter of it over the egg mixture and gently fold in to combine

Gently fold in the remaining flour, then the cooled, melted butter and the orange zest and mix until completely combined

From ingredients to batter:

Leave to rest for 20 minutes

Spoon the sponge mixture evenly into the prepared madeleine tray

As you can see, these are not evenly distributed, and this was reflected in the bake

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the sponges are risen and just golden brown at the edges

Sizes vary, this is not supposed to happen

Cool in the tray for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

I don't have a wire rack, so I cooled them on a plate. I would not recommend doing this, they kind of stick to the plate...

Orange Curd:

Mix all the ingredients apart from the butter in a small pan over a medium–low heat

Stir continuously for about 10 minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon

Remove pan from heat, stir in diced butter to melt, then transfer the mixture to a dish

Cover the surface with cling film, then refrigerate

Put it in dish like this, cover dish like so:

Assembly:

Remember, I did not do this. In theory, however, this is how the assembly would work:

Put 6 tablespoons of orange curd into 1 piping bag and snip the end

Push a skewer into each madeleine from square end into thickest part to make a hole

Push the end of the piping bag into the centre of each madeleine and pipe a little bit of curd into each one

Good luck with this

Decoration:

Put dark chocolate in a small glass bowl and microwave in short bursts for until melted

Dip one side of each madeleine into the dark chocolate and let cool completely

2 are missing from the picture on the right, I ate them

I don't see what all the fuss is about, I might have to try a different flavour