Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
2 eggs
80g sugar
15g honey
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
200g white compound chocolate
a little oil-based pink colouring
a little gold powder, mixed with a little alcohol
some baby’s breath petals
some fondant
Method
1 Melt butter using double-boiling method. Let it stand at room temperature.
2 Stir the eggs and sugar until foamy and light. Add honey and vanilla essence to mix well.
3 Sift cake flour into the egg batter.
4 Add baking powder and salt, whisking gently. Pour in melted butter and whisk. You can make different madeleine flavours by adding lemon juice, matcha powder or cocoa powder.
5 Preheat oven to 180°C.
6 Fill 90% of a madeleine mould with batter. Bake in oven for 12 to 15 minutes (adjust according to oven conditions).
7 Loosen madeleine edge with knife then tap to unmould. Leave to cool for later use.
8 Microwave white chocolate for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, repeating at 30-second intervals to obtain a smooth consistency. Do not heat continuously for 60 seconds as high temperatures can separate the oil from the chocolate.
9 Add the oil-based pink colouring to the liquid chocolate, mixing well. While still warm, half fill the madeleine mould. Then add the madeleines. Refrigerate for 15 minutes till set. Remove.
10 Use a small brush to coat half of the madeleines with the gold paint. Set aside.
11 Use a toothpick to secure the pink and golden madeleines alternately onto a cone-shaped styrofoam. Fold them up into a tower, and add some baby’s breath petals for decoration.
12 The mermaid tail and shells are made using fondant with moulds. Coat them with the gold paint.
