Much has been written about the joys of eating a madeleine still warm from the oven – and it’s all true. These golden-brown beauties are spiked with a hint of ginger and are even better when dipped into chilled spiced crème Anglaise. Start this recipe up to a day ahead to rest and chill the batter, which helps it puff during cooking and gives an airy texture. Makes 24 madeleines.
Ingredients
Spiced crème Anglaise
Method
Main
1.Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, then cool to room temperature (2-3 minutes; butter should be liquid). Whisk eggs, sugars, honey and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (4-5 minutes). Sift over flour, baking powder and spices, and fold to combine. Add butter a little at a time, folding to just incorporate between additions, then transfer to a disposable piping bag (with no nozzle) or a snap-lock bag and refrigerate to rest and chill (4 hours or overnight).
2.For spiced crème Anglaise, bring cream, milk, spices, vanilla bean and seeds to the simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat, set aside to infuse (5 minutes), then bring back to a simmer. Whisk yolks and sugars in a bowl until pale (2-3 minutes), then add cream mixture, whisking to combine. Return to pan and stir continuously over medium-high heat until mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon (4-5 minutes). Strain into a bowl, then refrigerate, whisking occasionally, until chilled. Cover and refrigerate until required.
3.Preheat oven to 180C. Snip tip of piping bag or corner of snap-lock bag and pipe mixture into 2 buttered 12-cup madeleine moulds (do not spread). Bake until golden and cooked through (8-10 minutes), tap tray to release madeleines. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with spiced crème Anglaise.
