Green Tea Madeleines

Classic madeleines are King to me, but I also take joy in toying around with small tweakings to the classic recipe. Case in point: green tea madeleines. It makes so much sense adding green tea leaves to the madeleine batter, as people normally eat madeleines with tea. I found that these were a bit on the sweet side. Perhaps next time I'll omit the honey. But other than that, pure bliss in the form of a madeleine =)! Rating: 4- out of 5.




Green Tea Madeleines: adapted from Mariage Frères, Dorie Greenspan - Paris Sweets
Makes 20 large madeleines

Ingredients:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (105g)
- ½ teaspoon double-acting baking powder
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar (100g)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (70g, 2½ oz)
- 2 tablespoons green tea leaves

Instructions:
- Sift together the flour and baking powder and keep close at hand. Working with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and honey together on medium-high speed until they thicken and lighten in color, about 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. Melt the butter, add 2 tablespoons green tea, and allow the tea to infuse for 3 minutes before starining out the leaves and discarding them. Switch to a large rubber spatula and gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface to create an airtight seal, and chill for at least 3 hours, preferably longer.
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If your madeleine pan is not nonstick, generously butter it, dust the insides with flour, and tap out the excess. If the pan is nonstick, yo still might want to give it an insurance coating of butter and flour. If it is silicone, do nothing. No matter what pan you have, place it on a baking sheet for easy transportability.
- Divide the batter among the molds, filling them almost to the top. Don’t worry about smoothing the batter, it will even out as it bakes.
- Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, small ones for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and golden and spring back when touched. Pull the pan from the oven and remove the cookies by either tapping the pan against the counter (the madeleines should drop out) or gently running a butter knife around the edges of the cookies. Allow the madeleines to cool on a cooling rack. They can be served ever so slightly warm or at room temperature.


Normally, I dunk stale madeleines in my tea, but with these,
even freshly-baked they're heading towards my tea cup.