My recipe for edible flower madeleines
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m obsessed with madeleines. But these edible flower madeleines are a totally different ballgame. Let me explain…
I’ve been playing around with edible flowers in my baking for the past year, especially inspired by Jennifer Hart Smith and her beautiful edible flower shortbread cookies.
And while I’m constantly searching for new flavor combinations for my madeleines and exciting ways to decorate them, I had never thought that edible flowers would actually withstand the baking process.
Surprise, surprise, it works!
Unfortunately, I haven’t yet figured out a way to get the flower to hold its shape throughout baking. But I did manage to get different colors to show through the batter, which got me very excited!
How to make your own edible flower madeleines:
Start by making my classic madeleine batter using the recipe below.
Then, once you’ve buttered your madeleine tray, delicately sprinkle flower petals on the bottom of each mold. You want to have the colorful side of the petals on the bottom, facing downwards, so that the beautiful colors of the flowers can be seen on the bottom of the madeleines once they’re baked.
Then, gently spoon or pipe the batter on top of the flower petals and fill the molds up to about 3/4 full before putting in the fridge to cool.
What kind of edible flowers can I use?
There are so many different types of edible herbs and flowers that you can use for this recipe!
Here are some that you can either find in your home, around your garden, or that you can buy from a flower shop or plant store:
- Chive flowers
- Lavender flowers
- Rosemary flowers
- Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum)
- Fennel leaves
- Carrot tops
- Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
- Shiso
- Cornflower
- Violets
- Hibiscus
- Wisteria
- Honeysuckles
- Lilacs
- Pansies
- Sunflowers
- Roses
Classic French madeleine recipe
Ingredients
- 120 g lightly-salted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 125 g white sugar
- 10 g honey
- 15 g vegetable oil (like sunflower)
- 130 g flour
- 4 g baking powder
- the zest of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp lightly-salted butter softened
Instructions
- Start by melting the butter in the microwave and then set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Butter the madeleine tray with some softened lightly-salted butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk the 2 eggs and the 2 egg yolks together, along with the sugar for 1 minute.
- Add the honey, the vegetable oil and the lemon zest, and whisk for 1 minute.
- Add the flour and baking powder and whisk just until you can't see the flour any more.
- Check that the butter is at room temperature by dipping your finger in it. It shouldn't feel hot to the touch. Alternatively, you can check with a thermoter that it's around 35 degrees (but honestly I always just check with my finger).
- Pour the melted butter into the batter and mix until fully incorporated.
- Fill the buttered madeleine tray with batter, up to 3/4 of the way for each mold.
- Place the tray in the fridge and let the dough sit for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 210 C.
- Place the tray in the oven and let the madeleines bake for 6 minutes. Then turn down the temperature of the oven to 180 C, and keep the door open for about 10/15 seconds so that the internal temperature can come down quickly.
- Bake for another 4 minutes, or until the madeleines are golden brown on the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Immediately remove the madeleines onto a cutting board to cool for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
[FRANCAIS]
Voici une idée vraiment originale pour pimper vos madeleines classiques !
D’abord, commencez avec ma recette pour les madeleines. Ensuite, beurrez votre moule à madeleines, puis ajoutez les pétales de fleurs dans le moule avec le côté colorée des pétales en bas. Le but c’est de voir la couleur des fleurs sur le dessus de la madeleine.
Pour vous aider a trouver des fleurs comestibles, voici une liste de fleurs et d’herbes que vous pouvez trouver soit chez vous, soit chez le fleuriste, ou même en jardinerie:
- fleurs de ciboulette
- lavende
- fleurs de romarin
- Asperule odorante(Galium odoratum)
- feuilles de fenouil
- Mélisse (Melissa officinalis)
- Shiso
- Bleuet
- Violette odorante
- Hibiscus
- Glycine
- Chèvrefeuille
- Lilas
- Pensées
- Tournesols
- Roses
La recette des madeleines classiques:
Ingredients
- 120 g beurre demi-sel, fondu
- 125 g sucre
- 2 oeufs
- 2 jaunes d’oeuf
- 10 g de miel
- 15 g huile végétale
- le zest de 1/2 citron
- 130 g farine
- 4 g levure chimique
Procedure
- Faites fondre le beurre demi sel et laissez-le refroidir à température ambiante.
- Dans un grand bol, fouettez les oeufs, les jeunes, et le sucre.
- Rajoutez l’huile, le miel, le zeste de citron et mélangez.
- Ensuite, rajoutez la farine et la levure chimique, et mélangez jusqu’à ce que vous ne voyez plus la farine.
- Rajoutez le beurre fondu et tiédi, et melangez.
- Beurrez votre moule avec un peu de beurre mou. Remplir chaque madeleine a 3/4, ensuite placez le moule au frigo pour au moins 20 minutes (ou même toute la nuit !)
- Préchauffez le four à 210 C.
- Une fois que le four est chaud, sortez le moule du frigo et mettez le directement dans le four.
- Faites cuire pour 6 minutes, ensuite baissez la température à 180 C. Laissez la porte du four ouverte pour 10-15 secondes, pour aider la température à descendre.
- Enfournez pour encore 4-6 minutes, ou jusqu’à ce que le bord soit doré et un couteau insérée délicatement ressort sec.
- Démoulez immédiatement d’abord sur une planche pour quelques minutes, et ensuite transférez sur une grille pour refroidir complètement.
Thanks to Alex MacDougald Photography for the beautiful shots of my edible flower madeleines!
Don’t hesitate to send me any questions you have about edible flowers!
Have you ever used dandelions?