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I love orange flower water—it has distinct floral and citrus tones, but not overtly so, and the scent instantly takes me to the exotic lands where it is predominately used.

The other day I was envisioning small, plain cakes delicately scented with orange flower water, and I happened upon an almond tea cake recipe similar to what I had in mind. I tweaked it a little, halving the sugar and muting the almond flavor so the orange flower water could really sing. Baking the batter in madeleine pans yielded pretty pillowy cakes with chewy golden edges that are profoundly addictive.

Orange Flower Tea Cakes

Adapted from a recipe at Baking and Books

  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons orange flower water
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Confectioners sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray the madeleine molds with olive oil (you could, alternatively, use a load pan, muffin pan, or other cake pan—just increase the baking time accordingly).

In a large bowl combine the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and orange flower water. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold in the olive oil. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake the cakes 17-20 minutes, until the centers are springy to the touch and the edges are golden brown. Cool in the molds for 5 minutes, then unmold and transfer to a rack to finish cooling. When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 24 madeleine-sized cakes.