Ladurée Madeleines with a Matcha Twist

I have a tradition of treating myself to a gift each Christmas, as a small hint to self to "love yourself" ,

So ever since I've been into Ladurée's macarons (and everything else in general), last Christmas I've decided to get Ladurée's own cookbook- Sucré or The Sweet Recipes. 

Created by the pastry chef of Ladurée  himself, the book contains some of the many secrets behind Ladurée's success. For example, their delectable French macarons ;)

I have once aspired myself to somehow finish attempting at every recipe before the end of the year. After looking through the book I've turned this idea to more of a "carp diem" thing - if I have some spare time or really crave for one of the items, I'll do.

Some recipes are really worth trying, but some other ones...I must say there are recipes out there that have better results. 

I would recommend the book to novice or higher-leveled bakers, as flexibility of this recipe by a baker's common sense is strongly needed in this book (I'll share the maca-ruined story later...)

....Back to the title.

Light and Spongy

 Madeleines, or French  genoise cakes, are delicate little sponge-like cakes (Wikipedia disclaimer: lighter flavor than traditional sponge cakes) that are a great addition to tea time or as a breakfast sides. 

I searched for a long time in the hopes of finding a truly airy, soft madeleine recipe, but the ones on the internet mostly use all-purpose flour, which I wasn't sure if the results would be light and cake-like. 

Then there's the saver- my new "bible"for desserts.  

Because my friends are also green-tea lovers (or maybe I've just conditioned them with my obsession for tea-infused stuff), I've added some extra matcha powder just to give the traditional tea cake another flavor. 

Matcha Madeleines

Adapted from Ladurée:Sucre

Makes 24 individual madeleines or 60 mini madeleines

3/4 cup sugar | 150 g granulated sugar (less if you want)

1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp | 175 g cake flour + 2 1/2 tbsp cake flour for moulds

2 tsp (10 g) baking powder

12 1/2 tbsp | 180 g butter + 1 1/2 tbsp butter for moulds

4 eggs

1 2/3 tbsp (35 g) honey

2 tsp matcha/green tea powder

Equipment

Madeleine moulds

Pastry brush

Prepare the madeleine batter one day ahead.

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and matcha powder. In a small saucepan or a microwave, melt the butter over low heat

2. In another bowl, place the eggs, sugar and honey. Whip until pale and frothy. Fold in the flour, baking powder and matcha mixture. Add the melted butter and combine. Refrigerate batter for a minimum of 12 hours in a closed container (see middle pic for the batter after refrigeration) 

3. The following day, melt the 1 1/2 tbsp of butter, and using a pastry brush, butter the moulds. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow the butter to harden. Lightly dust with flour, turn upside down and tap out any excess. If you do not fill the moulds right away, keep them in the refrigerator.

4. Preheat the oven to 390F. Fill moulds 3/4 to the top with batter. Place in oven and bake mini madeleines for 5 to 6 minutes, and individual madeleines for 8 to 10 minutes. When golden, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the moulds.

5. Serve madeleines lukewarm. If you do not plan on serving them right after baking, allow to cool and store in an airtight container, so they will stay soft and moist.

NOTE: 

• Please prepare the batter the day before serving as the batter leavens naturally.
• Do not overfill the moulds as they can be challenging to take out of the molds after baking. 
• Cooking spray may be substituted for the buttered pan part (I used butter and some of them did not come out completely, usually cooking spray doesn't fail you)
• This recipe's pretty flexible with variations - add pumpkin spice if you want to make pumpkin madeleines, lemon zest for a lemony flavor, etc. 

Enjoy!