HG Cooks
Apple Honey Madeleines
Recipe by Katie at the Kitchen Door
Here's a fun fact: it takes about 60,000 bees visiting over 2 million flowers to gather enough nectar to make one pound of honey. A bit of a natural wonder, raw honey makes excellent cough medicine, can treat wounds, boost energy, reduce allergy symptoms, stabilize blood pressure, calm nerves and help digestion. Even sweeter? Honey is a 'healthy sugar'. Not an oxymoron, raw honey contains simple sugars - unlike white sugar or sweeteners - whose exact combination of fructose and glucose actually help regulate the body's blood sugar levels.
Makes 24 madeleines
Ingredients
2 small apples
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp turbinado/cane sugar
8 tbsp butter, divided
¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel, core, and dice apples, and place apple chunks in a baking dish with vanilla, cane sugar, and 1 TBS butter. Roast in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until completely tender. Puree in food processor. Set aside 1/2 cup of puree for madeleines – remaining apple puree can be saved for another use. Turn off oven.
In a small saucepan, melt remaining 7 TBS of butter over low heat, then cook until it begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Pour through fine-meshed sieve into small heatproof bowl and let cool slightly, discarding milk solids in the sieve.
Sift together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, beat eggs vigorously until pale yellow and thick. Add the sugar and honey and continue to beat vigorously until thick, for about 2-3 minutes. Add the flour to the egg mixture and gently stir together. Stir in ½ cup of roasted apple puree and 6 TBS of the melted butter. Use the remaining 1 TBS of melted butter to grease the madeleine pans (set aside any extra for the next batch), being sure to brush butter in all the ridges. Flour the madeleine pans and tap out any excess. Set prepared pans aside, and refrigerate madeleine batter for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spoon the chilled madeleine batter into the molds, filling almost to the top, then transfer to the oven and bake for 11-12 minutes. Remove the madeleines from the oven, and let cool 1 minute, then remove from pans and set on cooling rack. Rinse cooled madeleine pans, then re-butter and re-flour before adding more batter. Continue until all madeleines are baked.
