Honey, Honey Honey

Honey! Just thinking about it makes me all warm inside... is there anything tastier, anything more complex and pure than honey? In my humble opinion, no. There is just something vital about honey; is there any wonder why Paradise was described as a land flowing with milk and honey?
My obsession with this liquid gold sent me searching for all different kinds of books on the subject, from cookbooks to history to general science. I really enjoyed Sweetness and Light: The Mysterious History of the Honeybee by Hattie Ellis. She writes about the history of man's intrigue of honey, from the Stone Age (cave drawings were found that resembles bees and hives), to the Roman Empire (where honey was used as money and was as valuable as gold), to modern-day bee-keepers and the world's continuing honey-lust.

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to Ninny Honeybee, an obsessive blog about all things sweet and small. Let me start with my first pastry obsession: madeleines. I think I fell in love with these little darlings because of their convenience. I am not much of a sweet-tooth. Okay, maybe I shouldn't start my very first posting this way... I cannot live without baking, but just a bite is enough for me, and that is why I love these warm and buttery cookies. Although, I will often have more than "just a bite" after I bake them...

What I would like to do is use this space to post some of my favourite recipes, bakeries and other sweet sites for everyone's use; and please feel free to send me your recipes and other favourites for others to share as well!

Try these madeleines:
Honey Madeleines
Ingredients:
3/4 cups butter
1/2 cup + 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups 10x (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup almond flour
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons honey
10x sugar (for dusting)

Oven: 375º F

Melt one tablespoon of butter and brush madeleine pans. Dust with tablespoon of flour if pans are non-stick. Brown the butter: heat butter over medium-high heat until milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan and begin to brown (about 5 minutes). Strain butter through fine seive (mesh) and set aside to cool. Combine and sift flour and sugar; whisk in almond flour. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Stir egg whites into the flour mixture, then whisk in the butter and honey. Spoon batter into tins about 2/3's of the way. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are lightly golden. Remove them from the tins right away, dust with sugar and enjoy!

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.