Lemon and Lavender Madeleines

Lavender is abundant in our garden and here in the UK, June-August is the best period to harvest! Whether you're using fresh lavender or dried buds, these madeleines are super delicious, with the perfect balance of lemon citrus and the floral perfume of lavender.

Ingredients:

• 75g caster sugar

• lavender buds, approx. 9g fresh = 3g dried

• zest of 1 lemon

• 2 large eggs

• 100g cake flour (or 95g plain flour + 5g cornflour)

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 100g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

1. In a sturdy bowl, combine the sugar and lavender bud. Using a food processor or blender, blitz the sugar and lavender until the lavender is fine and fully incorporated.

2. In a mixing bowl, rub together the lavender sugar and and lemon zest

3. Add two eggs and beat using an electric whisk until thick and pale (approx. 7 minutes)

4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth

5. Pour in the melted butter and fold until well combined

6. Chill the batter in the fridge for two hours

7. Lightly grease your madeleine mould, I used butter

8. Once the batter is chilled, preheat your oven to 180°c

9. Stir to loosen up your chilled batter to knock out any air bubbles. Transfer into a piping bag and pipe into your mould (20 servings or 12 in a large madeleine mould)

10. Bake at 180°c for 12-15 minutes

11. Once out of the oven, remove from the pan immediately to cool, they should just fall out of the pan

12. For optional presentation, spoon 2 tsp tempered chocolate into the madeleine mould before gently placing your cooled madeleines on top, ensuring the chocolate coats all sides. Allow to set for 10 minutes before popping the madeleines out

13. Enjoy!

Notes:

• If you don't have a food processor or a high powered blender, I used a stick blender. Alternatively, you could chop the lavender buds really fine, or simply leave them whole!

• The cooler your batter, the better the hump. Two hours works perfectly for this recipe! If it's super hot when you're making these, I would recommend chilling your greased madeleine tin too.

• Tempering your chocolate is key to getting the glossy finish on your chocolate coated madeleines! I coloured my white chocolate with gel food colouring to match the lemon and lavender flavour but pastel purple would look gorgeous!

• When creating the chocolate coating, don't press the madeleines in too hard or the madeleine will peek through the chocolate. Just gently place atop the chocolate, wiggling it just until the chocolate coats all sides.