East meets west in this traditional French cookie with Japanese flavor. Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder prized in East Asia; this is added to the standard lemon madeleine for a truly unique and delicate flavor. Fusion cuisine at its finest! Madeleines are from the Lorraine region of France and have the texture of a dense muffin, with crispy edges. They are baked in a special shell-shaped madeleine mold (see note*). The shell shape allows a thicker middle that tapers at the edges for that classic madeleine crispy edge.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons matcha powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
pinch of salt
mixture of powdered sugar and matcha powder, for garnish
Directions
- In small saucepan over low heat, melt butter; set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease your madeleine pan. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat eggs and sugar until blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to high; beat until very light and lemon colored, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour, matcha powder, grated lemon zest, salt, and melted butter until blended. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each madeleine shell. Bake 10-15 minutes until edges of madeleines are golden brown. Immediately remove madeleines from shells to wire racks to cool Repeat until all batter is used, greasing madeleine pan each time. Sprinkle madeleines lightly with powdered sugar/matcha mixture. Once they are completely cooled, store madeleines in tightly covered container if not serving right away, to prevent them from becoming soggy.
Notes
- * Madeleine molds or pans are inexpensive and easy to find at your local kitchenware store (please shop local!) or you can get one easily on Amazon. You can often find vintage madeleine pans on Etsy.
- Translated from the French and slightly adapted from a recipe found in Journal des Femmes.