Madeleines with Raspberries and Lemon Curd

Every time I tell myself that I probably have enough cookbooks as it is and that I should stop myself from ordering any new ones, I stumble over a book that I really REALLY need to have. I could not resist when I discovered Rachel Khoo's lovely little Paris Kitchen. It is a collection of typical French recipes with a simple approach and Rachel's own twist. You should check out her BBC series, she is so adorable! Alex and I were intrigued by this recipe here. Time to use my beloved madeleine pan again! The warm flavour of those madeleines and the sourly sweetness of the raspberry and the lemon curd go together really well. And don't they look cute?! We think they are a real treat... best eaten right after baking when they are still warm.

Recipe 
(from Rachel Khoo's gorgeous The Little Paris Kitchen)

for 20-24 madeleines:
3 eggs
130g sugar
200g flour
10g baking powder
grated zest of one lemon
20g honey
60ml milk
200g butter, melted and cooled
a punnet of raspberries
icing sugar, for dusting

for the lemon curd - we were to lazy to make it ouselves, so we used store-bought... 
grated zest and juice of one lemon
a pinch of salt
40g sugar
45g butter
2 egg yolks

Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy. Measure the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest. Mix the honey and the milk with the cool butter, then add to the eggs. In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours or over night.

In the meantime, you could make the lemon curd. Put the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small bowl and heat gently until the sugar and the butter have melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigourosly. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken. Don't stop whisking or the eggs will curdle (if the curd starts to boil, take off the heat). Once the curd thickens and releases a bubble or two, remove from the heat and pass through a sieve into a bowl. Place cling film directly over the curd and refridgerate for at least an hour, preferably over night.

Once you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter and flour a 12-shell madeleine tin. Put the lemon curd into a piping bag fitted with a small, pointed nozzle and place in the fridge.

Put a heaped tablespoon of batter into each madeleine shell and press a raspberry deep into the batter. Bake for 5 minutes, turn the oven off for 1 minute (the madeleines will get their signature peaks), then turn the oven on to 160°C and bake for further 5 minutes - ours took a bit longer.

Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, wash and dry the tin, then repeat the baking as for the first batch. While the second batch is baking, pop the piping nozzle into the mound in each baked madeleine and squirt in a teaspoon's worth of lemon curd. Repeat with the second batch, then dust with icing sugar and serve right away...