Honey-Orange Madeleine Santas

by cookingwithauntjuju.com

Ho!Ho!Ho! I made my first madeleines back in 1994. How do I know – well I saved this May, 1994 recipe from Bon Appetit and wrote “great – G’s favorite”. G of course is Gene, my best friend, hubby and companion for so many years. I made two other recipes at the time from Chocolatier and wrote only “good” next to the recipes; so there was no question as to which madeleine I would make again.

Madeleines are French tea cakes with a sponge-like texture and a distinctive shell shape. I have three different pans; the traditional pan, a wider and shorter shell pan and mini pans. Madeleines are so much fun to make because you can flavor them with so many different ingredients and then dust with confectioners’ sugar or dip in chocolate and sprinkle with nuts. This is a special version I have made for the holidays as it brings back good memories of times past some 20 years ago when I first made these for Gene.

The pictures below show the recipes from Bon Appetit, Better Homes and Gardens and Chocolatier that were stapled together.  I used the Bon Appetit recipe for the madeleines. These are heavenly with the orange blossom water, zest and I even used orange blossom honey. Thirteen years later this cute idea of making Santas out of the madeleines appeared in 100 Best Cookies 2007. The timing was perfect to make these again for the 2015 holiday season. Combined with a sweet, but not too sweet, icing makes for a delicious Christmas treat.

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Honey-Orange Madeleine Santas

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup honey (I used orange blossom honey)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp. orange zest, grated
  • 1/2 tsp. orange flower water
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush mold with melted butter and dust with flour. Combine eggs, honey, sugar and orange peel in bowl of electric mixer. Set over saucepan of simmering water (do not let bowl touch water); stir just until lukewarm (90-100°F), about 2 minutes or so.

Remove bowl and beat using a stand mixer until pale yellow and tripled in volume, about 12 minutes. Add orange flower water and vanilla. On low speed, gradually mix in flour. Transfer 1/3 of batter to medium bowl. Gradually fold 3/4 cup melted butter into batter in medium bowl (do not fold in water at bottom of butter. Gently fold mixture into remaining batter which will thicken slightly.

Spoon batter into madeleines, filling almost to top. Bake until cookies are springy to touch, turning pan after 5 minutes then cooking for another 5 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes, then pry out cookies and allow to further cool on a wire rack.  Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar when ready to serve, or perhaps dip in chocolate or caramel (unless you’re making these cute Santas).

Makes 18

To Decorate:

Turn cookies over and use rounded part for Santa’s beard and the narrow end for his hat. Use your favorite icing recipe, canned icing for a shortcut or use my recipe below.

Royal Icing for Santa Madeleine Cookies:

  • 3 tbsp. meringue powder
  • 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 cup water (approx.)
  • paste food coloring; red and blue
  • drop of flavored oil such as lemon or almond (optional)
  • confectioners’ sugar for dusting
  • small open star and round tips
  • decorating bags

Sift the first three ingredients; add the vanilla and  1 to 2 tbsp. water at a time until the icing is of glazing/piping consistency.

Tint the icing red (you need a lot of the “no-taste” red) for Santa’s hat and mouth, blue for the eyes, and white for the beard, mustache and pompom on hat.

Piping icing for outlining or adding details will be stiff; flooding icing is thinned out (hat)

Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com 

I am bringing these special, festive Santa madeleines to Fiesta Friday #99. There’s plenty for Angie and her two co-hosts, Linda and Caroline and the rest of the bloggers joining the party.

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51 thoughts on “Honey-Orange Madeleine Santas”

    • Thanks so much Julie – it was a nice surprise to find my notes on an old recipe or I might not have remembered Gene liked them. It made me feel real good and happy to make them 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Reply

  2. Oh I love madeleines Judi, they have to be a weakness of mine, and look how you’ve transformed them into cute lil santas. They are just darling.

    Reply

  4. Judi,
    How creative to turn yummy madeleines into adorable Santas! What a treat for the eyes and taste buds!

    Reply

  6. Hi there,

    Oh, I simply adore great pictures of food! This looks so tasty.

    Here’s a Christmas freebie for you:

    The link below takes you to a short article, which shows how you can easily obtain your gift. (but…if you’re suspicious that’s there’s no such thing as a free gift and don’t want to go clicking onto links, you can check it out the other way through my blog, by typing “light-bites for your heart” on the Reader page. It is the most recent blog entitled ‘A Christmas Present For You All’.)

    I hope you like it and can have some fun with it. Best wishes for a fantastic Christmas.

    http://lovingmyfather.com/2015/12/09/a-christmas-present-for-you-all/

    Sharon

    By the way, I can’t wait to try out this recipe. It looks delicious! Thanks for sharing it.

    Reply

  8. They are soooo cute. Just as cute as your love story. Thank you for spreading all the cheer and deliciousness amongst us.

    Reply

  10. Oh how adorable, Judy! I can see why Gene liked them. The recipe is really a special one. I love madeleine, one of my weaknesses. Like you, I used to mark my cookbook recipes with fair, good, v.good & excellent marks. It came very helpful.
    Merry Christmas, dear Judi, Happy Holidays to you and yours! xx 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Fae – madeleines are a favorite too and they can be made in so many different ways. This recipe is special and I really like the orange flavor in these. Merry Christmas dear Fae and have a wonderful holiday season 🙂

      Reply

  11. LOVE!!! Fantastic! Fabulous! Definite must-make for me this weekend. Except I don’t have orange blossom water. Where can I get it from?

    Reply

    • Thanks a bunch Angie – cute, aren’t they? Whole Foods sells it and probably specialty stores such as Sur la Table. Amazon Prime (if you’re a member) sells different varieties. You don’t need much and it lasts a long time 🙂

      Reply

  12. Judi, this looks absolutely wonderful. I can imagine the flavors of orange flower water.Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday and have a wonderful weekend! 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks Linda – it was fun to find this old recipe that Gene liked and to use orange flower water. I know you use it in many of your baked recipes. Lots of good flavor!!! Have fun co-hosting – you are perfect for the job. Happy Holidays to you 🙂

      Reply

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  25. These are incredibly cute! It’s so wonderful of you to have shared a recipe that you’ve kept and have been making for so many years. The orange zest, honey and orange blossom water sound delicious 🙂

    Reply

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