Orange Blossom Madeleines

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Madeleines are a classic french butter cake/cookie. This recipe yields light and wonderful madeleines that have a hint of orange blossom in them. Super easy to whip up and a reliable crowd-pleaser!

Orange Blossom Madeleine

I have always wanted to make madeleines but since I did not have a madeleine pan I never attempted them. I have posted my mom’s english madeleine recipe on the blog, and while I love that recipe, english madeleines differ from their french counterpart. Both absolutely delicious but in different respects.

I finally invested in a madeleine pan and had been waiting to try a recipe for these. I knew as my first try I wanted to make the classic version, and keep the more complicated and fancier sounding madeleines for later. I had recently bought orange blossom water from amazon for another recipe, and never got around to making the recipe I bought the water for. From reviews of the madeleine recipes I had read online, I knew I had found the perfect way to use the orange blossom water lying in my cupboard.

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Classic Genoise with summer berries and whipped cream

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Berries and Whipped Cream Cake
Berries and Whipped Cream Cake
Cake. There is nothing that screams celebration more than Cake.  And while I love plain simple pound cakes, this one in particular, I love the effect that a layer cake brings to the table. There are so many endless options and variations possible by just changing one component. Preheat the oven and let the creativity fly.

Today I am sharing the recipe for a classic genoise. A genoise is an Italian sponge cake. Its different from the american sponge cake in that it contains butter, adding the much loved butter flavor to the light and airy sponge cake.

I have been making this genoise recipe for a while now. It was one that I used during my The Pink CakeBox days, when people requested a fresh fruit cake. I have passed the recipe to my friends and family and everyone loves it. It yields a lovely sponge with a slight buttery flavor and the best part is it doesn’t require any separation of eggs.

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Strawberry trifle pudding

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SHU_7119

SHU_7092

I love baking from scratch. There is something therapeutic. But while I love baking from scratch sometimes convenience takes over. Like in the case of these strawberry trifle puddings.

While making the fried chicken from Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen cookbook, I stumbled on this recipe for Strawberry Custard Trifle. I love layered jar cakes and with strawberries in season this dessert sounded perfect to make. The recipe calls for box cake mix and I don’t use box cake mixes. My original plan was to make my own cake and make this recipe. Things did not go as planned. I had people coming over and while the meal was entirely homemade and from scratch (dal makhani, butter chicken, bhindi and dahi bhalla) I cheated a little with the dessert. As far as I remember this is probably the first time I have used a box cake mix in a dessert. But it was so worth it.

Francine Bryson, the author of Country Cooking, calls these trifles packaged ingredients artfully put together. Served in mason jars, it does make for a pretty presentation. My guests loved these and with a few homemade additions, this dessert was a big hit. This would be perfect for Memorial Day or for summer entertaining !

P.S: Trifles are a great way to rescue dry or cracked cakes!

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