H is also for Holidays!!! We are a week into Summer break and feeling very ready for a break of our own. My mum has arrived and spoilt the kids thoroughly with amazing and exhausting outings to Kidzania and Ski Dubai to meet the Penguins while we are at work.
Living in this city of mixed cultures, we are exposed to a variety of languages, customs and traditions. Children especially are so easily adaptable to blend in and this is evident in my kids accents. I would say its mostly Aussie but our eldest has a distinct english twang with excellent pronunciation while our middle daughter pronounces all her ‘r’s and even adds some in where they are not required. Number 3 – well, once she says something that actually makes sense then we might have a better idea.
I chose Honey for this letter. It is diverse in use, sweet and natural. It is used across the cultures as a natural sweetener, medicinal – it has antibacterial properties and in lots of Asian, Middle Eastern, European and Mediterranean dishes to balance depth of flavours in savoury dishes, caramelisation thanks to its sugar content and it tastes great on hot buttered taste. Its amazing because it takes on the flavours of where the bees are located and what they are feeding from; orange blossom, wildflowers, woody forests etc.. The middle east produces amazing honeys that are usually deep in flavour and colour.
These little french cakes (Madeleines) are so delicious and delicate and their shell form is so lovely and quaint. There are a quite a few different thoughts of base ingredients (caster sugar or icing sugar) but once you are happy with that, you can literally add whatever flavour suits your mood. This time it was honey, cardamom and orange. However, mum being mum, brought a big bag of delicious Imperial mandarins all the way from Australia as mum kids inhale them and no others compare here. I was out of oranges so used the zest of one of these incredibly fragrant ‘mandys’ and it was fantastic.
Be careful, do not overfill the cups (I did!) and do not over bake. Watch the oven like a hawk and make a double batch as they will be gone in an instant! You need to make the mixture at least 4 hours before baking so only cook the batch as you are about to serve as they are best eaten from the oven.
We are in Spain for the next couple of weeks, hoping to get lots of inspiration for my cooking!
- ¾ cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 75g melted butter
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large teaspoon of orange zest (I used a whole small mandarin)
- Begin the mixture at least 4 hours in advance, keep chilled in the fridge.
- To bake, preheat the oven to 160 degree celcius.
- Brush a Madeleine pan with softened butter
- In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and cardamom
- In a mixer, beat eggs, mandarin zest, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- Fold in the dry ingredients and melted butter until thick and smooth.
- Cover and refrigerate.
- Place 1 tablespoon in each mould and each mould should look like it needs more but it doesn't!
- Bake for about 7 or 8 minutes until lightly golden.
Natalie says
I recognise all those sweet hands! Your mandarin, honey Madeleines look spectacular
Georgie says
I know those little fingers and that brand of nail polish! Yummy treats too! Looks terrific Weenie xxx
Jane says
Really stunning photography Spoonsie! And the mandeleines look yummy, I will definitely try them! Xx