Food to Share: Lovely Lemon Madeleines and a Winter Picnic

We haven't had much Winter here in Nashville but lately I've found myself longing for Spring nonetheless. Perhaps it's because the weather hovers in the 50's, teasing me. A picnic on a bleary (thank you Rebekka, that is the perfect word) Sunday was exactly what I needed: to be outside, to relax, to eat delicious food and drink wine with friends. 

I went to Arrington Vineyards to share a picnic with Rebekka and Colleen. We had prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches, brie and with crackers, and I made lovely lemon madeleines. They're lovely because, well, they're just beautiful to look at. That much is obvious. They're also packed with lots of meyer lemon zest, cornmeal, almond flour and best of all, butter!

Oh, and did I mention that I woke up to this precious face on Sunday morning? My sweet little Pixel, patiently waiting for me to get up and take her to play outside in the fog.







Lovely Lemon Madeleines
makes 18


1/3 cup semolina
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
1t baking powder
3 large eggs
pinch kosher salt
1 stick (8T) unsalted butter
1T limoncello
1T meyer lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, whisk semolina, almond flour and baking powder together. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar and salt with electric mixer until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes (if you see peaks beginning to form you have gone too far!). Melt butter and let cool slightly. Pour butter and almond extract into egg mixture. Beat until combined. Add zest. Fold dry mix into wet mix with spatula until just combined. Let chill in fridge for one hour. Spoon batter into madeleine mold. Bake for 6-7 minutes at 400, drop oven temperature to 350, and bake for another 4-5 minutes.