Christmas Madeleine Cake
Christmas is coming! Are you ready, friends? Let’s make a Madeleine cake with a strong Christmas vibe! According to legend, Madeleines, also known as Madeleine de Commercy, originated in the town of Commercy in France. In 1730, gourmet King Stanislas Leszczyński of Poland was exiled to Commercy. One day, during the dessert course, his private chef unexpectedly disappeared. To cope, a maid quickly baked her signature small treat, which ended up delighting the king. He decided to name the little cake after the maid, Madeleine, making it the original name of the delightfully shell-shaped cakes we now know as Madeleines. High-quality butter is essential for Madeleine cakes. This recipe uses butter from the German brand Meggle, a company established in 1887 with nearly 130 years of history. Meggle is a globally renowned lactose supplier, and its butter, yogurt, and other dairy products are equally famous throughout Europe. Meggle’s unique production process makes the butter smoother, richly flavored, yet not overwhelming. Every 250g brick of butter is made from 6 liters of milk. This seemingly simple butter boasts a mild color and a richly pure aroma and flavor. Furthermore, Meggle offers a convenient 125g small-sized package, perfect for home bakers. Adding alcohol to Madeleines imparts a special fragrance, so give it a try! Remember to clean the molds after every batch. I rushed through and didn’t wash the molds, which caused the green tea-flavored batch to stick and damage the cake when unmolding. This recipe makes two trays of Madeleines.
Ingredients
Steps
Prepare the ingredients. Note that some are missing from the photo, such as the alcohol and white chocolate.
Melt the butter in a hot water bath and let it cool to room temperature.
Mix the eggs and sugar with a hand whisk until combined.
Sift in the low-gluten flour and baking powder, and mix well.
Fold in the melted butter and mix well.
The batter should be semi-fluid. Divide it roughly into two portions for later use.
Sift red yeast rice powder into one portion and mix well. If the temperature is too low, place the bowl in warm water to aid mixing. Add coffee liqueur to the red yeast portion without affecting its color.
Sift matcha powder into the other portion and mix well. Add rum to the matcha portion.
Transfer each portion to a piping bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Brush your mold with homemade release oil, which you can find recipes for online. Remember to clean and brush molds again after every batch.
Bring the batter back to room temperature. If it’s very cold, warm it slightly using a warm water bath until it flows easily. Pipe batter into molds until 90% full. Gently tap molds on the counter to release air bubbles.
Bake in the middle rack of a preheated oven at 170°C for about 15 minutes. Observe carefully: the cakes should puff up but retain their shape, with browned edges but not excessive coloring. Remove immediately and cool on a rack. To prevent the matcha flavor from over-browning, you can place an additional tray beneath.
Melt white chocolate and coat on the cakes. Feel free to get creative with the design!
Quickly sprinkle with crushed pistachios. The cold weather requires fast action!
Repeat the same method for matcha Madeleines. Done! Aren’t they beautiful?