How To Make Madeleines

Sometimes, I like to pretend that I'm French and eat cake for breakfast!!!

For some reason, Robin (the husband) is a lot better at making Madeleines than me (I'm not complaining!) - so here's his trusted recipe. You can't beat one (or ten) of these fluffy little cakes first thing with a latte!

Ingredients:

120g icing sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

100g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

115g butter

HOW TO MAKE:

You will need Madeleine moulds for this recipe. I use a silicone mould, which saves a lot of time when it comes to greasing and flouring - because you don't have to.

Preheat oven to 190ºC. In a bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest (try lime zest for an alternative) with a handheld whisk until they are pale. Gradually add the icing sugar to the mix, still whisking, until the mixture is thick and forming ribbons.

Now gradually fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. When all the flour is incorporated, fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon the mixture into the moulds, being careful not to fill over ¾ full.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are lovely and golden. Leave to cool in the moulds for a couple of minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. They are best eaten straight away.

You can give them a little dusting of icing sugar or pipe some Nutella into the middle like I have done here - they didn't last long!