Rose Madeleines

Those who know me have come to terms with my true passion for rose: rose flavored desserts, rose perfume, rose tea...the list goes on.

Rose macaroons are one of my favorite things to indulge in, Laduree's of course. If there's anything that comes close to that, its rose madeleines. I've always made the classic madeleines with their delicate aroma, very Proust, but ever since I decided to experiment with rose syrup, its hard to go back.

Rose syrup is a staple in my kitchen. My favorite way to use it is to simply add it to a cold glass of milk; I've been drinking milk this way since I was very little. If you love the flavor of rose, this must be tried! You can buy rose syrup from most ethnic food stores.

In Nigella Lawson's book, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, she has a recipe for 'rose bud madeleines' using rose water. I've tried this recipe and as lovely as they tasted, I was disappointed with the lack of rose flavor. I found that using rose syrup enhances the rose much more and adds a beautiful pink color. Of course, I had to limit the sugar that I would usually add to madeleines because the syrup is already very sweet.

In order to create the madeleine signature hump, these take a few hours to make, as they have to sit in the refrigerator for a while and then sit again out of the fridge. The batter can also be left in the fridge over night and then made the next day.
Rose Madeleines:
(Makes about 24)
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 1/4 cup of white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons rose syrup
- Madeleine molded baking tray.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in bowl very well for about 5 minutes.

Hold a strainer over the bowl and sprinkle in the flour, fold this in with a spatula.

Then add the melted butter, fold this in until the batter is evenly mixed.

Add to this the lemon zest and the rose syrup.

Mix it all together and you should be left with a thick, pink batter.

Cover this with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, take the bowl out of the fridge and leave it to sit out for 30 minutes

(try not to exceed the 30 minutes as the batter should stay quite set).

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Add one heaped teaspoon of batter to each madeleine mold. Don't worry about it filling the whole shell up, it will do this by itself with the heat of the oven.

Bake these on the middle shelf of the oven at 400F for about 5-7 minutes.

Leave the madeleines to cool on a rack before serving.

You can dust these with powdered sugar before serving if you want to, I just like them the way they are.

Eating these with a cup of tea is a must! Enjoy :)