Lemony Madeleines

I'm one that's always up for trying new recipes, but that doesn't always mean that I'm up for repeating the same recipe more than 3 times in the same day in order for them to be just right. This recipe from The Ultimate Cookie Book made me bend my own rules. I honestly tried making these 4 times, back to back. It wasn't because of the taste or texture. Those were great throughout all 4 batches. What was driving me insane was the color. They kept on coming out too brown! Yes, I know it could've been that the baking heat was too high or the baking time was too long, and I did manipulate them all 4 times, which, by the way, the 4th batch was perfect color-wise but was under baked. This picture is from the 3rd batch, and was honestly the lightest I was able to go without under baking. "The flavors of lemon and raspberry - always fast friends - play happily together in these tiny French sponge cakes. Savor their flavor with a steaming cup of raspberry tea."

Lemony Madeleines with Raspberry Ganache
*makes 24 cookies*

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1 recipe Raspberry Ganache

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour twenty-four 3-inch madeleine molds. Set aside. Separate eggs; place yolks and whites in separate bowls. Cover and chill egg whites until needed.
2) In a medium mixing bowl combine egg yolks and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add butter, lemon peel, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined.
3) In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sprinkle flour mixture over the egg yolk mixture; gently stir in. Stir in pecans. Lightly beat egg whites; gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into the prepared molds, filling each about half full.
4) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden and tops spring back when lightly touched. Let stand for 1 minute in molds. Using the tip of a knife, loosen cookies from molds; invert onto a wire rack. Remove molds; cool cookies on wire rack.
5) When cookies are completely cool, use a soft brush to remove excess crumbs from cookies. Holding each cookie at an angle, dip halfway into Raspberry Ganache; place on waxed paper. Let stand until set.

Raspberry Ganache: In a small saucepan heat 1/3 cup whipping cream over low heat just until boiling. Remove from heat. Add four raspberry-flavor tea bags. Let stand for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags from cream. Return cream to boiling. Remove from heat. Immediately add 4 ounces white chocolate baking squares, finely chopped. Stir until melted. Tint with red paste food coloring (or in my case since I didn't have red, I used yellow) to desired color. Cool slightly before dipping cookies.