It’s hard to imagine enjoying a madeleine without reaching for that hot cup of tea or coffee. These natural pairings go hand-in-hand. But have you ever thought of infusing madeleines with your favorite tea? It’s so easy to do, as you’ll see in this recipe for Darjeeling tea madeleines with maple and ginger, that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of this Darjeeling tea pairing sooner!
To infuse the flavor of Darjeeling tea into your madeleines, simply infuse your tea leaves in hot butter. The aroma molecules of tea aren’t as soluble in fat (butter) as they are in water, so you’ll want to increase the amount of tea leaves you use accordingly.
Darjeeling Tea pairings
Due to the oxidation that occurs during processing, Darjeeling tea has roasted, caramellic notes similar to those found in maple syrup. Madeleine recipes typically call for honey, but maple syrup makes a wonderful substitute—both flavor-wise and texturally—for this Darjeeling tea pairing. To add even more flavor dimension, we can accent the madeleines with a more pungent ingredient such as ginger, which also shares certain floral and citrus notes (like lemon and orange) with Darjeeling tea.
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Darjeeling tea madeleines with maple and ginger
preparation
- 150 g whole eggs
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 150 g Darjeeling tea-infused butter*
- 15 g maple syrup
- 15 g ginger purée
- 150 g whole wheat flour
- 2 g baking powder
- madeleine pans
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and granulated sugar together. Fold in the Darjeeling butter, maple syrup and ginger purée.
In a separate bowl, combine the whole wheat flour with the baking soda. Sieve and gently fold into the wet batter mixture. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
Butter your madeleine pan and spoon the batter into the molds. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Darjeeling tea-infused butter
preparation
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 15 g Darjeeling tea
Melt the butter in a small sauté pan over low heat and add the Darjeeling tea leaves. Remove from heat once the butter comes to a gentle boil. Cover and allow the tea to infuse into the liquified butter for at least 10 minutes. Then, strain and press down on the tea leaves to extract as much flavor as possible.
