I love when my friends recommend recipes to me. This last week has been a little topsy turvy with a big corporate baking project, making the Jurassic World Launch Cookies for Universal's head office in London (170 boxes of 3 vanilla and chocolate cookies was quite a challenge - photo below!) Whilst I was knee-deep in flour and sugarpaste and covered in airbrush paint, a friend popped a recipe through to me she thought I could try.
This fabulous recipe for Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream. Wow, what flavour combinations! I think the recipe came from a magazine but is from Laura Santtatini's new book, At Home With Umami. It combines zesty lime with green tea in the madeleines and then pairs them with a lovely lightly whipped cream speckled with vanilla seeds and pepper.
What I love most about these madeleines is the wonderful green colour and the zesty lime flavour. I'm not a huge matcha fan but I found that this recipe uses the tea to give it a wonderful colour and the flavour isn't too predominant. I only made a half batch to start off as wasn't sure this would be a popular flavour with my boys, but am now kicking myself that I didn't make the full 20!! The recipe is straightforward but with each stage it's important to keep lots of air in there to make them as light as possible when they're baked. And also to ensure that you grease the madeleine tins well. Laura suggests oiling them but I went with my usual method which is to butter and flour them.
I'm used to making madeleines with just egg whites, but this recipe uses whole eggs. The batter is refrigerated before it goes into the tins for baking. I usually put my batter into a piping bag and then refrigerate it. Just a preference of mine, but I find it easy to store and then when the mixture sets more in the fridge, it's easier to pipe it into the madeleine tins.
These madeleines are lovely as a standalone treat without the cream but the fluffy cream adds another dimension. The pepper gives a slightly spicy taste and I love the additional icing sugar that adds a touch of sweetness. Laura suggests adding these to taste and also the option of adding saké but I didn't have any to hand so decided to just flavour with the vanilla seeds, icing sugar and ground pepper.
This would work really well for afternoon tea but I think if you were making them for morning coffee then losing the cream would work equally - but adding a proper pairing with a nice cup of green :)
Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Makes 10
Lime & Matcha Madeleine Ingredients
- 65g BUTTER, MELTED & COOLED
- 80G PLAIN FLOUR
- 1/8 TSP SALT
- 1/4 TSP BAKING POWDER
- 1/2 TBSP MATCHA GREEN TEA POWDER
- 1 LARGE EGG
- 85G CASTER SUGAR
- ZEST OF 1 LIME
- 1 TBSP LIME JUICE (just less than the juice of a lime)
Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Ingredients
- 150ML DOUBLE CREAM
- 1/2 POD VANILLA SEEDS
- 1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER (to taste)
- 1 TBP ICING SUGAR (to taste)
Method
- Firstly, melt the butter and set aside to cool
- In a bowl, sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and matcha green tea powder
- Place the sugar and egg in a mixer and whisk until it's doubled in volume (around 3-5 minutes)
- Whisk the lime juice into the egg mixture
- Fold the flour into the mixture until just combined
- Fold in the butter and lime zest
- Put the mixture into a piping bag and refrigerate for an hour
- When you're ready to make the madeleines, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
- Butter and lightly flour the madeleine tins and then pipe the mixture into the cavities until each is 3/4 full
- Bake for around 12 minutes but watch them carefully as you're waiting for the edges to turn golden brown and don't want them to burn
- Remove from the oven and turn them out gently onto a cooling rack
- To make the cream, whisk the double cream to soft peaks being carefully not to over-beat the cream
- Fold in the vanilla seeds, pepper and icing sugar to taste (these are the quantities I used but feel free to flavour as you like)
- Enjoy the madeleines warm from the oven with a sprinkling of icing sugar and the cream cool from the fridge :)