Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows

Last night was a nightmare – there was a huge storm here in Sao Paulo and several places in the city were flooded. I left work at 6pm and got home at 11... It usually takes me 1 hour to do the same thing everyday. I was so tired that after a shower I fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.

Being inside of a practically parked car for 5 hours is no fun, let me tell you, but at least I had some music to keep me company. I definitely wanted something cheerful – I love Smiths and Silverchair, but that is not the kind of music one needs in times of desperation; those are times for the Australian pint-sized diva.

Besides good music, there’s something else I crave in moments of tension: sweets. Can’t tell you how many times these cookies crossed my mind last night. :D

Cocoa-chocolate chip pillows
slightly adapted from Baking by Flavor

Cookie dough:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (30g) unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (70g) unsifted confectioners’ sugar
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon ground almonds
2/3 cup (115g) semisweet chocolate chips

Cocoa rolling mixture*:
1 ¾ cups (245g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon unsweetened Dutch processed (alkalized) cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 175ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. (Cookie sheets need to be heavy to prevent bottoms of cookies from scorching. Use one sheet on top of another, if necessary.)

Make the dough: sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Place melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Sift over the confectioners’’ sugar and mix it in with a wooden spoon; the mixture will have small lumps of sugar. Blend in vanilla extract and almonds. Stir in half of sifted flour mixture and all the chocolate chips. Stir in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the rest. Dough will be malleable and workable.

Spoon up scant-tablespoon quantities of dough and roll into chubby balls. Place balls about 5cm (2in) apart on prepared sheets.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until set; tops will crack slightly here and there. Let cookies stand on sheets 1 minute, then carefully remove them to cooling racks, using an offset metal spatula. Cool 5 to 8 minutes.

Rolling mixture: sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa into large bowl. While cookies are still warm, carefully dredge them, a few at a time, in sugar-cocoa mixture to coat, then transfer to a sheet of waxed paper to cool. Dredge them lightly again, if you wish – the cookies will look prettier.
Store airtight at room temperature up to 5 days.

* there was a lot of mixture left – I believe that half of it would be enough to coat all the cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe and got 19

Vanilla and rosewater madeleines

Thank you for so many great ideas and suggestions on the lavender marshmallows – I knew you would help me out. I’ll keep you posted about my lavender experiments. :D

Once again, flowers – this time, roses paired with a flavor that comes from an orchid... It almost feels like spring.

Vanilla and rosewater madeleines
from Donna Hay magazine

2 eggs
75g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
75g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
80g butter, melted

Rosewater icing:
160g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
40ml boiling water
¼ teaspoon rosewater

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift over the flour and baking powder and whisk to combine. Add the butter and whisk until combined. Spoon the mixture into a 12-hole greased madeleine pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack – they were easily removed from the pan once cold.

To make the icing, place the confectioners’ sugar, water and rosewater in a bowl and mix to combine – or add the water gradually and check for icing consistency.
Place the rack of cooled madeleines over a baking tray and spoon over the icing and allow to set – I found it easier to quickly dunk the madeleines in the icing; I let them dry and then repeated the process so the icing would be thicker.

Makes 12 – I got 9 like the ones on the photos and 15 smaller ones

Lavender marshmallows

It seemed like a good idea – something delicate, almost ethereal. But it did not turn out as I expected...

Have you tried lavender marshmallows? I remember seeing a photo on a magazine, months ago, but there was no recipe – it was an ad from a bakery or something. I decided to use a vanilla marshmallow recipe from DH mag #36 adding the dried lavender instead of vanilla extract.

The marshmallow was actually quite good – delicious and fluffy. But the problem was biting into the lavender buds – they tasted sort of bitter. Maybe grinding them with the sugar before making the syrup would solve this problem – I would love to hear your opinion about it.

Lavender marshmallows
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
660g caster sugar
1 1/3 cups glucose syrup
2/3 cup water, extra
3 tablespoons dried edible lavender*
200g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
35g (about 3 tablespoons) corn starch

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115ºC/240ºF) on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the lavender and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into a lightly greased 25x35cm (10x14in) baking dish lined with non-stick baking paper, cover with lightly greased non-stick baking paper and refrigerate overnight (I used regular baking paper and oiled it very well).
Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the paper. Cut into 5cm (2in) squares – to make cutting easier, dip the knife in boiling water and wipe dry between each incision.
Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container

Makes 25 - I halved the recipe above, used a 20cm (8in) square pan and got 36 smaller marshmallows

Banana almond cake

I can’t believe I finally made this cake! The recipe had been in my kitchen forever. I was about to rename it “Fight Club cake”- I have tried to watch that movie hundreds of times but never got around to do it. I’ve rented it over and over again, but for a number of reasons I always had to take it back before getting to the end. I’ve tried watching it on cable, too, with no success. And the funny thing is that I absolutely love the director – one of the few guys that can make Brad Pitt play someone else other than himself – and Edward Norton is one of my true favorites. What’s wrong with me?? :)

It’s a pity that the cake is long gone. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll try watching “Fight Club” again. For the 8th time. :)

Banana almond cake

65g unsalted butter, room temperature
60g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon rum
100g almond meal
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon (packed) corn flour
2-3 large bananas
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Syrup:
juice of ½ lemon
1 tablespoon rum
½ tablespoons honey

confectioners’ sugar, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
Butter a 10x23cm* loaf pan and flour the insides, tapping out the excess.

Sift the almond meal and flour together three times. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat well. Add the eggs, gradually. Add the cream and rum. Beat to incorporate.
Fold in the sifted ingredients with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared pan.
Peel and cut the bananas into 3-4 pieces each; “stick” them into the cake batter, keeping the pieces standing – there should be half an inch of banana out of the cake batter, or so.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean.
Mix well all the ingredients for the syrup.
Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes; unmold and drizzle with the syrup.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar when serving.

* I used a 10x26cm pan

Serves 6

Nika’s chocolate coconut hedgie cookies

I had these on my del.icio.us for ages – ever since Nika posted them, more than a year ago. Her cookies looked so good! Every time I took a look at my bookmarks I felt like baking these just to, seconds later, realize that the type of coconut in my pantry was not the one the recipe called for.

A quick trip to the grocery store solved that problem and I wish I hadn’t been so lazy: these cookies are fantastic.

Nika’s chocolate coconut hedgie cookies

1 ¼ cup (175g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (88g) packed light brown sugar
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (100g) flaked sweetened coconut
icing sugar

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.

Cream together butter, brown and white sugars. Make certain that it is very well mixed and that you get a light fluffy texture (you have incorporated air into the mix).

Add egg, vanilla, and chocolate powder and mix well. It will be getting thick now. Add the flour by 1/3rds. The mix will be very thick, like a dough towards the end. Don’t be shy, use your hands to knead it all together, if necessary. Add the coconut flakes. You will likely need to use your hands to incorporate the coconut – I used my Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment and it was enough.
Cover with plastic/cling film and chill in the fridge – I chilled it for 3 hours, Nika did it overnight.

Preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF; line two large baking sheets with parchment/baking paper.

Make balls using 1 leveled tablespoon of dough, roll in icing sugar and put onto prepared sheets, placing the balls 5cm (2 in) apart.
Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 32

Apricot honey soufflé

Going through my pile of Bon Appétit magazines – I haven’t received the new issue because of the strike on our Mail Service – I found an article on soufflés by Molly, a.k.a. Orangette. After the “How come I did not read this when the magazine arrived?” moment, I felt inspired - I was going to make a soufflé, too. It was sort of like when I wanted to learn how to roller skate because of Olivia Newton-John. Being 9 and scared of getting my skinny legs and arms bruised I quickly dropped the idea. But a soufflé? That I can make. And I went for a sweet one.

The only problem here was NOT eating all the apricot purée before making the dessert. :)

Apricot honey soufflé
from Sweet Food

1 cup dried apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
2 egg yolks
1 ½ tablespoons honey, warmed
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
4 egg whites
confectioners’ sugar, to dust

Place the apricots in a saucepan with ½ cup cold water, or enough to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the apricots are soft and pulpy. Drain (mine did not have any water left) and process in a food processor to a purée.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Lightly grease a 6 cup soufflé dish* (using vertical strokes) and sprinkle the bottom and sides with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.
Put the egg yolks, honey, lemon zest and apricot purée and beat until smooth.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form, then beat in the remaining sugar. Fold 1 tablespoon egg whites into the apricot mixture and mix well. Lightly fold in the remaining egg white, being careful to keep the mixture light and aerated. Spoon into the soufflé dish and level the surface. Run your thumb around the inside rim to create a gap between the mixture and the wall of the dish (this will encourage even rising).

Bake on the upper shelf in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until risen and just set. Cover loosely with foil if the surface starts to overbrown (I’m not sure how this would work with a soufflé the way it does with a cake, but the info comes from the book).
Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve at once.

* I halved the recipe, used two 1-cup capacity soufflé dishes and baked them for 15 minutes.

Serves 4

Glazed apple lattice coffee cake

Some ideas are so great that we wish we’d thought of them ourselves. When I read that David Helfgott was the man behind the amazing piano played in Emotion Sickness I was stunned - Silverchair is just genius.

The same thing crossed my mind when I saw this coffee cake on the Oct, 2007 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. A coffee cake filled with apple, brown sugar, zest and spices was something I would love to try already. And it just got better with the addition of a lattice top. So pretty! I wish I’d thought of it. :)

It may look tricky to put together, but it’s not. The recipe is very detailed and well explained. I got it from the magazine, but you can find it here, too.

Glazed apple lattice coffee cake
from Bon Appetit magazine

Dough:
2 tablespoons warm water (40 to 46ºC/105ºF to 115ºF)
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

½ cup (120ml) whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, diced, room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 to 2 ¼ cups (280 to 315g) all purpose flour – I used 2 cups + 2 tablespoons

Filling:
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1 ¼ pounds (565g) Golden Delicious apples (about 3 medium), peeled, cored, quartered, cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Nonstick vegetable oil spray or vegetable oil
1/3 cup almond meal*

Glaze**:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons (or more) orange juice

Start with the dough: place 2 tablespoons warm water in small cup. Mix in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 6 minutes.

Stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt in medium saucepan over medium-low heat just until sugar dissolves and butter melts (mixture should be just warm). Scrape milk mixture into large bowl; cool to lukewarm if necessary. Whisk in yeast mixture, egg yolks, orange peel, and spices. Add 2 cups flour; mix with rubber spatula until dough comes together. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead until smooth and silky, sprinkling with more flour by tablespoonfuls as needed, about 6 minutes – it’s a very tender dough, delicious to work with. Place in clean large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and kitchen towel. Place in warm draft-free area (I use my microwave oven); let rise until light and almost doubled in volume, about 2 ½ hours.

Now, the filling: melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar. Cook until thick grainy sauce forms, about 1 minute. Mix in apples. Cook until apples are tender and sauce is reduced to glaze, tossing often, about 7 minutes. Mix in all grated peel and spices. Cool filling at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.

Place large sheet of foil on work surface; spray with nonstick spray. Turn dough out onto foil. Roll out to 14x12-inch (35x30cm) rectangle. Sprinkle cookie crumbs in 4-inch-wide (10cm) strip down center, leaving ½-inch (1.25cm) border at top and bottom. Arrange apples with any juices atop crumbs. Starting ½ inch (1.25cm) from each long side of apples, cut straight to edge of dough at 1-inch (2.5cm) intervals, making about 13 strips on each side. Fold dough strips alternately and on slight angle over filling, forming lattice. Seal open ends of dough.

Slide foil with dough onto large rimmed baking sheet; trim foil overhang. Cover cake loosely with plastic and towel. Place cake in warm draft-free area; let dough rise until light and puffy, about 1 ¾ hours.

Preheat oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Bake cake uncovered until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

For glaze:
Mix powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice in small bowl to blend, adding more juice by ½ teaspoonfuls if too thick. Drizzle glaze over cake. Gently run spatula under cake to loosen from foil. Cut crosswise into slices. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

* the original recipe calls for finely crumbled vanilla wafer cookies or soft ladyfingers; I did not have any at home, so I went for almond meal and was pretty glad with the result.
** I halved the glaze recipe and I thought it was enough.

Makes 8-10 servings

Passion fruit marshmallows

I worked as a teacher for 2 ½ years. As I taught in the evening, my students were adults, with very few exceptions. They were sweet, kind and hard working people and teaching them was a wonderful thing.
One day, two Mormon boys stopped by the school and offered to lecture the students, so they would practice their English skills. They told us about their mission in Brazil, the people they’d met, the places they’d seen. And this may come as a surprise to you, but I clearly remember what they said about the food. :)

Among other things, they were completely crazy about guaraná and passion fruit juice. They told the students they did not know how they were going to live without those beverages once they were back in the States.

Passion fruit is a huge favorite of mine and its flavor and smell are intoxicating. Marshmallows made with passion fruit juice? That sounded too fabulous not to try.

My friend Lindsey, whose husband is a fellow Brazilian like me, loves passion fruit juice. And I think she’s gonna love these, too.

Passion fruit marshmallows
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

confectioners’ sugar, for dusting*
180ml strained passion fruit juice (about 10 passion fruits) – I used concentrated bottled juice
20g powdered gelatin
500g caster sugar
2 egg whites
pinch of salt

Generously grease a 17.5x25cm shallow cake pan and dust it liberally with confectioners’ sugar. Combine passion fruit juice and gelatin in a bowl and set aside.

Combine caster sugar and 1 cup (250ml) water in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves, then increase heat to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes, without stirring, or until syrup reaches 125ºC/257ºF on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat, add passion fruit mixture to syrup – be careful, there will be some steam coming out of the pan - and stir until gelatin dissolves.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and salt until frothy. Gradually add passion fruit mixture, whisking continuously on medium speed until mixture has doubled in size, then slowly decrease speed and mix until mixture is warm (about 40ºC/104ºF). Pour into prepared cake pan (spread evenly with a lightly oiled spatula, if necessary) then dust top liberally with snow sugar. Stand at room temperature for 3 hours or until firm. Using a sharp knife, cut marshmallow into 2.5cm squares and roll in snow sugar to coat – I turned the whole mixture onto a cutting board lined with baking paper; it was easier to cut the squares.
Store in an airtight container between sheets of baking paper at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

* the original recipe called for “snow sugar”, which they describe as a confectioner’s sugar with a vegetable fat added to prevent the sugar from absorbing moisture and dissolving (available from specialty food stores); I used regular confectioners’ sugar instead and it worked fine.

Makes 54 – I used a 15x25cm pan and got about 70 small marshmallows

Zuger Kirschtorte

I usually write about myself, my family and friends here. I share info about my favorite food, music and movies with you, my dear readers. But today I am going to tell you a story that happened to someone else – Neusa, a coworker of mine.

She was once at her mother-in-law’s and was served a beautiful, delicious cake for tea. The cake was on Neusa’s mind for a while – that was, for sure, a fantastic dessert. She finally asked her MIL for the recipe. The answer came as a surprise, though: “You must be confused; I have never served such thing. Sorry, but I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Neusa knew she wasn’t confused and she hadn’t dreamed the cake either. But some mothers-in-law are not very good at dialogues, and she soon learned that hers fit that bill, even though the woman was an extremely refined person.

We know great things come for those who wait and one day Neusa felt like she had been hit by something – while flipping through one of her cousin’s cookbooks, she found a photo of the cake. THAT cake. The “I-have-never-served-you-this-you-must-be-confused” cake. I don’t even have to tell you that she got a copy of the recipe and made the cake herself, do I??

She did and the cake was wonderful. Guess what she served her MIL the next time she visited? Oh, vendetta can be such a sweet thing sometimes. :)

Neusa has given me the mission of making the cake, too - a Zuger Kirschtorte. She wants me to spread the word – by posting the recipe here, many people will have access to it, which is something her MIL never intended to happen. Neusa told me that her MIL was born in 1914 and, for many people from her generation, family recipes are precious things that are not supposed to be shared. They are supposed to be prepared and served to guests who will be in awe with the food without ever knowing how to make it.

The recipe on Neusa’s book was not as accurate as I expected it to be and it kicked my a** a bit. But I finally got around and made it and I post the recipe as full as details as I possibly can.

She was also kind enough to lend me this absolutely gorgeous plate – a German piece – so I could photograph the cake on a family treasure. See how posh she is – an extremely refined person herself.

Zuger Kirschtorte

Almond meringue:
4 egg whites
120g confectioners’ sugar
20g corn starch
100g almond meal/ground almonds

Genoise:
3 eggs, egg whites and yolks separated
3 tablespoons hot water
80g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
10g caster sugar
50g all purpose flour
50g corn starch
pinch of baking powder

Buttercream:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
50g currant jam – I used blackberry jam

Syrup:
4 tablespoons water
20g caster sugar
120ml kirsch

For sprinkling:
100g almonds, toasted and chopped – I kept the skin to add some color to the cake
70g confectioners’ sugar

Start by making the meringue discs: preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF. Draw two 25cm (10in) circles in a large piece of parchment/baking paper, on a baking sheet. Generously butter the insides of each circle.
Sift the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl, add the corn starch and almond meal; set aside.
Beat the egg whites until stiff; remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, delicately fold the reserved ingredients into the egg whites. Spread the mixture inside the circles, leaving 0.5cm of the edges free of meringue – it will spread. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the meringue is golden. Turn off the oven and allow meringue to cool inside, for at least 4 hours (can be made overnight).

Biscuit: preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF; butter a 25cm (10in) springform round cake pan (I used one with a removable bottom), line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Using a mixer, beat the egg yolks with the water until thick and light. Add the confectioners’ sugar gradually and beat well. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites until stiff; add the caster sugar and beat well. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the yolk cream to the egg whites. Sift the flour, corn starch and baking powder over the mixture and fold in carefully with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through – the cake will pull apart from the sides of the pan when baked.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Buttercream: using a mixer, beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar gradually, beating well. Add the egg yolk and jam, beat well until smooth.

Syrup: in a small saucepan, combine water and sugar over medium-high heat until it starts boiling. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Add the kirsch and mix well. Set aside.

Assembling the cake: very carefully, peel the meringue discs off the baking paper and place one of them on a serving plate. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream over the meringue. Place the biscuit cake on top of it and brush it generously with the syrup. Carefully spread 1/3 of the buttercream over the biscuit cake. Cover with the other meringue disc.
Spread the remaining buttercream on the sides of the cake and “stick” the chopped almonds on the cream. Using a sieve, sprinkle the top of the cake with the confectioners’ sugar. Draw a criss-cross pattern on the sugar using the back of a knife.
Keep it refrigerated, but serve it at room temperature – the cake gets hard in the fridge.

Recipe from a book by Roland Gööck + a little help from here.

Spiced madeleines

Ever since creating the blog, I have tried a huge number of new, different ingredients. I can’t even list them anymore – too many for my poor memory to gather up.

One of those ingredients is allspice. I’d seen it around in several recipes but it only premiered in my kitchen last week, when I baked these tender and light madeleines. For a spice fan like me, it was about time.

Speaking of "premiere" and "fan", “SATC” opened here last Friday and I absolutely loved it! I couldn’t wait to watch the movie – I have all the DVDs and have seen each episode 3-4 times; I like it to the point of knowing lots of lines by heart... :)
All the girls are fantastic, but Samantha is still my favorite – not only she’s the funniest of them all, but also the prettiest. And the oldest!

Spiced madeleines
from here

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon (melted) for greasing molds
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom*
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
pinch of salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Special equipment: a madeleine pan with 12 (7.5x5cm/3-by 2-inch) molds

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Brush molds with some melted butter, then chill until set, about 5 minutes. Brush molds again with some melted butter and chill pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, spices, and a pinch of salt.

Whisk together sugars and eggs until combined well. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined, then stir in remaining butter (6 tablespoons) until just incorporated. Spoon batter into molds, filling them about two thirds full. Bake 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 175ºC/350ºF and bake until springy to the touch and edges are lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn out onto a rack and cool 15 minutes.
Just before serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar.

*the original recipe calls for ground coriander; I preferred to use cardamom instead.

Makes 12 – I got 12 like the ones on the photos + 15 smaller, traditional-shaped madeleines