If you have not been following along the last couple of weeks, don’t worry, you still have time to vote!  You can get all caught up here.  In addition, the Seattle Times decided to write about this little contest going on and I was thrilled to see my picture was used.  Hopefully this generated some votes as well…

I love Madeleines, they are definitely one of my most favorite french treat.  I have to say though, there is really nothing better than popping them into your mouth right out of the oven, once you have eaten them that way, it is hard to go back.  I recently read about a new bakery in NYC where you can order them and they will make them fresh for you while you wait.  I can’t wait to go there this summer and try them.

This holiday season one of the people on my team surprised me with some wonderful treats that he mail-ordered from Fouchon – one of the most amazing food stores in Paris.  He gave me some to-die-for caramels, and some lavender honey…  I wanted to open the honey right there and dig in, but I knew I needed to wait for something…although I wasn’t sure what.  One day I was flipping through my recipe pile in the pantry, and found one out of Bon Appetit for Orange Honey Madeleines.  That’s when it hit me, wouldn’t they taste better made with lavender honey instead??  I whipped out the honey and started baking.  The great news about madeleines is the batter can sit in your refrigerator overnight – and they are so easy to pop in the oven, so there is no excuse not to make them fresh.  These came out wonderfully, with a subtle taste of lavender.  They were crisp on the outside, tender and moist on the inside, they were perfect.  So, the next time you are looking for a special treat to serve your guests after dinner, look no further.  Make the batter the day before, and then pop these in the oven after dinner.  Your guests will think you are a brilliant – and you can package up some leftovers for them to take home, that is if there are any left…

Ingredients

• special equipment

  One 16-cookie madeleine pan with 3×2″ molds

Preparation

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Using  an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and  thick, about 4 minutes. Beat in honey, vanilla, and orange zest. Gently fold in  dry ingredients. Add 5 Tbsp. melted butter; gently fold into batter. Press  plastic wrap directly onto surface of batter; chill for at least 3 hours.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Position a rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°. Lightly  brush madeleine molds with butter. Place pan on a baking sheet. Drop 1 scant  Tbsp. batter into each mold. Bake until golden and a tester inserted into center  comes out clean, about 10 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, invert, and quickly knock madeleines out  of pan. Serve warm with some powdered sugar dusted on top.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Lavender Honey Madeleines