Photography John Paul Urizar, Styling: Michele Cranston, Photochef: Fran Abdallaoui
This Christmas-themed madeleine tower is a total showstopper and easier to make than you might think! Our simple melt-and-mix recipe for madeleines creates tender, buttery little cakes, delicately perfumed with sweet festive spices. There will be a few extra madeleines leftover from assembling the tree so serve these separately or they can be the ‘baker’s treats’!
Ingredients
Method
Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt into a large bowl, whisk in the sugar until the dry ingredients are evenly combined.
Whisk the beaten eggs, honey and vanilla into the dry ingredients until combined then whisk in the melted butter until smooth and thoroughly mixed. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Spoon a level tablespoon of mixture into greased Madeleine pans. You will need to make these in batches depending on how many pans you have. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until puffed and golden around the edges. Stand Madeleines for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Wash, dry and re-grease the pans between batches.
Dip about one third of each Madeleine (scalloped end) in melted chocolate. Decorate with sprinkles; transfer to a sheet of baking paper for chocolate to set.
To assemble, place the cone on a cake stand. Insert toothpicks at an angle into the cone and attach the Madeleines, working your way around in layers, slightly overlapping each row. Position a star decoration at the top.
Test Kitchen Tip
Generations of home bakers have relied on McKenzie’s Baking Powder to give their baked goods a lift and is an essential ingredient to have in your pantry. The gluten free formula makes it suitable for all types of sweet and savoury baking. It is a key ingredient in this madeleine tower recipe.
How to make a madeleine tower: top tips
Resting batter in the fridge helps to achieve the signature ‘hump’ by allowing the gluten to relax and activate the leavening agents. Chilled batter hitting the hot oven creates a shock of steam that causes a rapid rise before the crust sets, which gives the characteristic shape. Resting batter also makes it easier to spoon mixture into madeleine pans.
We purchased the foam cone from Spotlight.
White sprinkles are from cake decorating stores.
Are there other ways to decorate a madeleine tower?
We’ve been restrained with decorating our Madeleine tree, but you could tint the chocolate with food colouring to match your Christmas table colour scheme.
For a more elegant look use thick velvet ribbon tied in a bow at the top, drape down the side.
Celebrating over 170 years in Australian kitchens, our passion at McKenzie’s Foods is providing you with essential ingredients so that you can create precious food memories with family and friends. Proudly Australian owned for over six generations, our products can be found in every kitchen and are available across all major supermarkets.
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