Perfect Madeleines

I’m fairly clumsy in a sort of 'lack of care about my own personal safety' kind of way. I can be careful when it’s important but I do tend to race around and bash into things if I’m in a rush (and sometimes when I’m not). I talk with my hands so my husband tends to move wine glasses out of my way if I’m in the middle of a story, as I have been known to spill an entire glass of red wine down myself (that episode saw me washing my cream dress in the loo of a restaurant and wearing it damp to finish off my meal). I think that I’ve been feeling more clumsy than usual as my recent reading habits have tending towards classic novels. They tend to contain delicate women who have the time to take seven weeks to get over a cold or who need people to read poetry to them as the book would be too heavy for them to hold. I think I’d be more likely to be some wench who gets in the way of their carriage and whose demeanour causes the delicate ladies to take to their room for a week.

Now many of the cakes on here so far are fairly robust and can take a bit of bashing about, or at least can’t be botched up that badly, but sometimes I do like to make something that requires a more delicate touch and makes me feel like a proper baker. Now macaroons are my go to in these times and while the end product is amazingly beautiful, I’m found covered in sticky meringue and generally have to be prised off furniture. Not something that helps my overall feeling of serene ladylikeness. So I’ve decided to get my Madeleine tin out as I’ve only used it once and I need to perfect the recipe.

The egg acts as a raising agent so please don’t be tempted to add baking powder to the recipe. Also you need a small amount of batter per Madeleine tray as if you put too much in you get a massive bump in the middle of the cake. You’d rather have too little than too much, trust me, as once you turn them over they look great as long as they sit flat. I’ve added some extras to flavour the sponge but they don’t need it. It’s more to mix up the look of them. Don’t be put off by the length of the method. It’s not because it’s hard but because I waffle on about how important each stage is and why.

This makes 24 so 2 x 12 Madeleine tray.
 

Ingredients

120g unsalted butter (this is one of the rare recipes where I respect the need for unsalted butter)

100g caster sugar

2 large eggs

100g plain flour

Optional – orange zest, lemon zest, chocolate chips

1.     Melt the butter in a saucepan and once melted measure 100ml into a jug and pop into the fridge to cool while you get on with the rest. Reserve the rest as you’ll need it in a sec.

2.    Put the sugar and eggs into a smallish bowl and whisk the hell out of it. You want it to go very pale and fluffy (see below). When you think you have finished do it some more. As the egg is the raising agent you want as much air in their as possible.

3.    Sieve (and once again I never sieve flour into bowls unless I believe it actually needs it) the flour on top of the batter. Then fold it into the batter with a metal spoon. Folding is very important to keep the wondrous air in and while you do this the batter will become more dense.

4.    Once the flour is in get the butter out of the fridge and pour it into the batter in thirds, folding in each time. Don't just whack in all of the butter at once as it will take forever to fold in. Now you can add some extra flavours at this stage so fold in zest or rose water but I tend to put the flavours into the tin so they decorate the top of the Madeleine once turned out.

5.    Now put the bowl of batter in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This part is important as it helps the batter solidify and I think generally makes you feel like you have some technique. Then preheat the oven to 190°/GM6.

6.    When the batter is rested brush the Madeleine tin with the remaining melted butter. You don’t need much but this is what ensures that the edges get crisp and colour.

7.    If you want add zest or chocolate chips to each tray. Not too much but a scattering. Then spoon a heaped teaspoon of batter into each tray. You'll need two spoons – one to scoop and one to get the batter off. Don’t be tempted to spread the batter out as this will squish the air out. Just leave it and it will spread out while cooking.

8.    Place the tray in the oven, set the timer for 8 minutes and you’re there. Let them cool in the tray for a few minutes before taking them out. Then they just slide out gently and look amazing. You can dust with icing sugar but for me that's taking being delicate that little bit too far.

 

These taste great warm so if you have people coming over just leave the batter, covered, in the fridge until ready to bake.

Auntie Mary's Green Bean Casserole

I didn’t bake on Monday this week. My husband baked. I came home to a vase of flowers and The Thew making Jetlag Sausage Bake, which was fitting as I’d arrived back from Chicago. Sadly the trip was because my Auntie had passed away and I went over to support my family and attend her wake and funeral. I did think that I should bake something in her memory, which we’ll get to below, but it focused me on all the reasons why I miss her and how the world feels emptier without her presence in it.

My Auntie had many challenges to face in her life and did so with patience, generosity and love. She had three beautiful daughters, my cousins, and the last week spent with them has shown me that all her qualities exist within them and that I can still find her every now and again. Her eldest daughter has the ability to care for others that she shows through her role as a mum and care giver to her two younger sisters. She cares for those with special needs in the same awe inspiring way that her mum did, all the while keeping a smile on her face and finding the joy in situations. My Auntie’s sociability has transferred to her and also her middle daughter, who has to be dragged away from any social gathering. Yvonne lives in the moment and loves to talk to people, meet people and generally help out. Her love of children, another of my Auntie’s traits, can absorb her completely and she patiently tried to get my younger hyper activity self to sit still (without success) so she could lavish attention on me. The youngest, Bernadette, is thoughtful, kind and always likes to look stylish. My Auntie loved to shop for clothes and of all her daughters Bernadette revels most in new things to wear along with getting her nails and hair done. Her eldest daughter gave her two grandchildren who brought her so much joy and they are hitting adulthood with maturity, due to dealing with situations beyond their years, and showcasing elements of her wonderful nature and mixing them with their own to create something new and great.

So this is clearly my Auntie's amazing legacy that she left - her beautiful family that contains elements of her personality that can be found if looked for. Obviously nothing is as good as the real thing, a fact everyone will agree with me on, but it's a pretty decent second best that I'm happy to take right now.

In thinking of a fitting recipe to honour my Auntie my mum jogged my memory about a Green Bean Casserole she used to make. It’s a fairly staple part of American life as many people know about it but I’ll put it down here as it’s delicious. I’ll update with my own picture when I do make it as I need to track down the onions. Comfort eating is going to be one of the ways I get through how I feel right now but at some point I'm going to have to follow her lead and just get on with it. She showed that taking what you get and making the most of it can create fantastic beauty in this world.

Ingredients:

1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
180ml cup milk
Black pepper
500g green beans
300g French’s French Fried Onions (these are really hard to get in the UK. Sometimes you can find them as ‘salad toppings’ but they are amazing. If you know someone going to the States get them to bring them back).

1.    Heat oven to 180°/GM4.

2.    Mix soup, milk and black pepper in a baking dish. Stir in beans and 150g French Fried Onions.

3.    Bake for 30 min.

4.    Stir and top with the remaining 150g onions. Chuck back in the oven for 5 minutes until they are crunchy and then serve.

Banana Bread with Rum Soaked Sultanas

Inspiration for recipes can come from anywhere and mine came from a rather large plastic bottle of rum from St. Lucia. It was brought back from the honeymoon of one of my work colleagues and is currently sitting on our work bar. No one had cracked into it and I thought that maybe it should be used. Inspiration then hit – the banana bread I make with sultanas soaked in bourbon could be soaked in rum. So after feeling like some sort of social degenerate for filling a plastic water bottle with rum I headed off home.

My banana bread is a favourite with most people and actually helped get me my current job. In my first interview we talked a lot about baking (mainly as I answered the question ‘What is your favourite kitchen implement?’ faster than any other interviewee) and I, in a moment of brazen bravery, said I’d bake them a cake if I got a second interview. It worked and I managed to quite surprise the Creative Director when I actually produced a cake. (The night before I’d been in two minds about whether to do it but as I was going for an Account Director role I thought that I couldn’t fail to meet expectations).  

Now this is adapted from Nigella’s recipe but I’ve messed with some things. The bananas I had this time weren’t as ripe as I like them but my normal go to £1 a bowl man only had nice bananas. He generally has a couple of bowls of over ripe bananas that he is only too glad to get off his hands. I have no idea what he thinks I do with them. Anyway this is a great loaf cake and only gets better after a couple of days if it last that long.

Ingredients

100g sultanas

75ml rum

175g plain flour

2 heaped teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon of bicarb of soda

½ teaspoon salt

125g melted butter (melt in a large saucepan as you’ll use it as your mixing bowl and save washing up)

50g white sugar

100g brown sugar (light or dark)

2 large eggs

Peeled, mashed bananas weighing about 350g (as ripe as you can get them)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.    Pre heat the oven to 170°/GM3.

2.    Put the sultanas and rum in a small saucepan and heat until the rum boils. Turn off the heat and cover for about an hour. You want the sultanas to absorb the rum and plump up – yum.

3.    Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl and mix well.

4.    Add the sugar to the melted butter and mix. It won’t blend completely but just so you’ve made a bit of an effort. Beat the eggs in and then the banana. Now I don’t mash the banana well but let my electric whisk do most of the work.

5.    Beat in the vanilla and add the flour mixture, half at a time, and mix well. Then mix in the drained sultanas.

6.    Put into a lined loaf tin and bake for about an hour. It might need a bit longer but test with a skewer after an hour. Then leave to cool but just to check it turned out ok, cut one end off and eat warm.