My madeleine pan had been calling to me for months claiming it was lonely stacked up against the muffin tins. So, on an early morning stroll through Dorrie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours I found some inspiration in her Earl Grey version.
As much as I love earl grey, its had a lot of air time on this blog and I thought it might be nice to give another tea the spotlight. Years ago when people in the U.S. started drinking green tea, I did too. There was just one problem–no matter how many mugfuls I downed, I couldn’t seem to acquire a taste for it. It was too, well, green for my Western palate. That is until I discovered Trader Joes jasmine green tea. Who doesn’t love a tea that smells pretty?
This was a fun recipe to experiment with because Dorrie has you steep the tea in melted butter. It also directs the baker to strain the tea out of the butter with cheesecloth before incorporating the other ingredients. However, I liked the texture the tea added and so used a mesh strainer so that some of the leaves were left behind.
Much of the loveliness of jasmine tea lies in its fragrance. So, I was uncertain that the fragrance would translate into flavor when baked.
I shouldn’t have worried. The jasmine and citrus zest played together really well to create a subtle and unique flavor to the little cakes.
The only problem is that I that I couldn’t figure out a good compliment to serve these with…what kind of tea does one pair with tea flavored cookies? Coffee?
I love your madeleine pans! My beverage suggestion is lemonade 🙂