TWD: Honey Madeleines

Over the weekend, I had a cooking/baking marathon session in the kitchen. Unfortunately, not much was going according to plan. One of the things I was most excited about was a kale and butternut squash pizza I planned to make and then bring for lunch over the course of this week. I made the pizza dough, and while it was rising, I cut up the butternut squash and stuck it in the oven to roast. I prepped the remaining veggies, shredded the cheese and assembled the pizza. It was time consuming, but the pizza was gorgeous – the orange from the squash and green from the kale were so vibrant. As I peeked through the oven door and saw the pizza baking, I knew lunch this week would be something to look forward to. You know what’s coming right? All that hard work down the drain when I dropped the pizza – top side down, of course – as I was pulling it out of the oven. I could have cried. Shane worked quickly to salvage what he could and we pieced something together with the leftover roasted veggies, but it was less than ideal. I will be attempting that pizza again soon – hopefully when I’m having a better day in the kitchen – so I can share it with you guys because the flavors were fantastic!

My friend Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook chose these madeleines for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie. They didn’t want to cooperate with me either, but thankfully weren’t as messy as the pizza situation. The recipe technically called for a mini madeleine pan, but since I use my full size madeleine pan so infrequently, I really couldn’t justify a second one. Aside from the change in size, I followed Dorie’s recipe exactly, and unfortunately, my first batch of madeleines were nearly burnt on the outside before they were fully cooked inside. I attempted a second batch, this time lowering the oven temperature to 400 rather than 425 and keeping a super close eye on them as they baked (I think the baking time was about 8 or 9 minutes for me). The results were better, though still a little darker than I’d have liked. I thought maybe it was an issue with my madeleine pan, but it’s never given me a problem before, and a few of the other TWD members ran into the same situation so it seems doubtful.

In spite of the baking issues, these were probably my favorite madeleines that I’ve ever made. They include brown sugar and honey, both slighty non-traditional ingredients, but so delicious in this recipe. The madeleines had a great texture too – very light and springy. Di shared the madeleine recipe on her site today, or you can find it on page 172 of Baking: From My Home to Yours. The second recipe this week was selected by Valerie of Une Gamine dans la Cuisine, who chose Fall Butternut Squash Pie on pages 328-329. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make it, but you can stop by her site to see her gorgeous pie and grab the recipe!