Clementine Madeleines

These are my new alternative to a mince pie when someone calls in for a festive cuppa.

There are barely any ingredients in them, just 1 egg and a spoonful each of flour, butter and sugar, so they are brilliant to make when you think you have nothing in. Although you do need to have a madeleine tin. Sorry, but them’s the breaks.

I flavoured mine with clementines because I can’t resist the look of them with their bright green leaves. I also stumbled across some very good dark chocolate spiced with orange oil so I drizzled that on. It gives you the chocolate-orange vibe without having to tap-it-and-unwrap-it.

There has always been a Terry’s Chocolate Orange in with my Christmas presents as far back as I can remember. Usually stuffed down the toe end of the Christmas stocking making it all square and lumpy. We now do the same for George. I guess it harps back to the days when people just used to get a toy and an orange and some nuts in their stockings on Christmas morning.

Oh, if only that were the case now! We have 8 birthdays to remember in December as well as all the Christmas gifts so it’s not easy to be creative as I just run out of steam with ideas.

Today is my Mum’s birthday. She is 83 y’know! This morning I fed her breakfast and gave her a drink from a sippy cup. A role reversal of 40-ish years ago when she might have been doing the same for me. Then I filled her room with flowers, banners and sparkly Christmas lights. She might not thank me for that, but it amused me.

Over the years she has managed to hide some great presents from us until Christmas morning, but there were a few December evenings where me and my brother could be found by the kettle steaming open packages to find out what was in them. Why did we ever do that?

More recently Mum took to leaving our presents in plastic bags with a ribbon stuck on. I can’t blame her.

The last Christmas that Mum lived on her own I helped her buy her presents for everyone. I wrapped and labelled them and left them out on Christmas Eve…only to find out that on Christmas morning she had opened them all herself before the family got there!

Though she can’t speak now she is still able to convey how much she still likes anything sweet and cakey. She had a couple of these dainty madeleines to round off her birthday breakfast.

Happy Birthday Mum.

Keep enjoying the cakes.

Clementine & Chocolate Madeleines

To make 11-12 madeleines:

1 large egg
45g melted butter
55g plain flour
50g caster sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
zest and juice of a clementine
a 100g bar of orange oil flavoured dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Wipe butter in each of the holes of the madeleine tin.
Whisk the egg and sugar together well until they become thick and creamy.
Sift the flour and baking powder 3 times, pour it onto the egg mix and fold in with a metal spoon.
Add the melted butter, clementine zest and 1 tblsp clementine juice and fold this in too.
Put one scant dessertspoonful of mix into each madeleine mould.
Bake at 180 for 10 minutes.
When they are golden remove them by dropping the tray on the worktop to loosen.
Then push the cakes out with your fingers and cool on a rack.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Drizzle over the sponges with a spoon, or using a piping bag.
Alternatively you can dip the madeleines in the chocolate.

A bit of background about my Mum.

I used a 12 hole pan but this ones has much deeper ridges for a nice madeleine shape: Silverwood 16 Shell Madeleine Pan