I never saw the point in making these because Costco always sold the perfect ones! My aunt lives right next to a Costco so she would constantly bring boxes to our house. It was only until I made my own that I realised, adding Cardamom to them, was the reason why you make them at home.

Well adding Cardamom and dipping them in Chocolate was the real reason you do it at home…

I can’t say Madeleines are the easiest things to bake if you not the baking type. However, if you follow the instructions carefully, and give them the chilling time they need, you’ll nail it! It took me about two attempts to get them right, the first were like biscuits, but tasty biscuits at least.

For me the timing and oven temperature were the problem, so trust your instinct when making them, as you know your oven best.

You’ll need a Madeleine tray for these, I have literally not tried to make them in anything else… yet. Maybe I shall experiment soon. But I promise it’s worth the investment!

Ingredients

• 100g Plain Flour (Sifted)

• 100g Caster Sugar

• 100g Butter (Melted)

• 2 large eggs

• 2 TSP Ground Cardamom

• 1 TSP Baking Powder 

• Zest of 1 Orange

• 150g Dark Chocolate

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C.

2. Butter your moulds, then sprinkle flour in them and set aside (if you have room in your fridge place the tray in there).

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, you want the mixture to double in volume and become thick.

4. Then add a quarter of the flour into the egg/sugar mixture and gently fold it in.

5. Fold in the rest of the flour and baking powder followed by your melted butter, zest & cardamom .

6. Leave the mixture to rest for about 20 minutes in the fridge.

7. Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture evenly into your madeleine moulds, roughly half to three quarters of the way. You do not want them overfilled!

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the sponges have risen and are beginning to turn golden brown around the edges.

9. Cool in the tray for a couple of minutes, then remove from the tray and cool on a rack or plate.

10. Place the dark chocolate in a small glass bowl and microwave in short 30-second bursts until melted or alternatively place over a bain-marie. 

11. Once the madeleines are cool, dip them into the chocolate and place on your rack till it sets.

12. To finish decorating, I topped them with some Orange Zest and Rose Petals, before they fully tried so they would stick!