Manuka honey madeleines

I’ve been experimenting with taking processed sugar out of some of my recipes and replacing it with more natural alternatives, such as honey and malt syrups. This is one of the recipes that adapted exceptionally well to honey, and I love the flavour the madeleines get from intense ones such as manuka and leatherwood.

Credit: Adam Gibson

• makes

  24

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

For me, these cakes are best served straight from the oven. They don’t benefit from being kept for too long!

Ingredients

• 170 g (6 oz) butter, plus some for brushing the metal mould
• 3 eggs
• 185 g (6½ oz) manuka or leatherwood honey, or other honey as preferred
• 160 g (5½ oz) plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• soured cream, to serve 

Apricot jam

• 250 g (9 oz) apricots
• 2½ tbsp water
• 50 g (1¾ oz) honey

Chilling time: 30 minutes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Melt the butter and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and honey until light and fluffy, approximately 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients, then add them to the egg mix and fold by hand. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, gently fold in the cooled melted butter. Chill in the fridge for approximately 30 minutes.
3. To make the jam, take the seeds out of the apricots, then roughly dice them. Combine with the water and honey in= a saucepan and cook on a medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until a jammy consistency is reached.
4. Butter a madeleine mould with a pastry brush. I use a 12-cake non-stick metal one; the old copper madeleine moulds are amazing, but I would grease and flour them first. Fill each indentation half full and bake for 10 minutes. They should be set and golden, with minimal colour on top and light brown underneath.
5. Serve immediately with soured cream and jam.

 

This is an edited extract from How Wild Things Are by Analiese Gregory, published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45. Available in stores nationally.

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

For me, these cakes are best served straight from the oven. They don’t benefit from being kept for too long!