Yuzu madeleines

Winter in Japan can mean many things; one of them is yuzu season. That is something we ought to rejoice in. Yuzu are seasonal fruits grown in Japan only and that makes them really difficult to track down.

As my sister takes her annual pilgrimage to Japan, I’ve gotten her to get me some of the fresh yuzu fruit, and in return, I would make her some lovely yuzu things. Sounds like a pretty good deal, don’t you agree?

Armed with these treasured yuzu, I have since made half a dozen of yuzu panna cotta , two trays of madeleines and a baked yuzu cheesecake.

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I find these madeleines good enough to be eaten on their own or maybe with the lightest of dusting of icing sugar.

However when they are glazed, the yuzu citrus flavour comes out more pronounced. One word of warning though, the glaze doesn’t keep well in the hot weather in Singapore so you would need to eat it on the same afternoon that you glaze it or it will start melting.

Since madeleines are at their best when they are just out of the oven, still slightly warm to touch, you shouldn’t keep them for too long in any case.

 

 

Recipe: Yuzu madeleines

Makes 24 – 28 regular sized madeleines
Adapted from The Ethnic Paris Cookbook by Charlotte Puckette and Olivia Kiang-Snaije

It is important to have the eggs at room temperature before baking so they can be whisked to their full volume. The melted butter should be added in when it is cooled and not hot (to prevent the batter from deflating too much).

I bake them – one in stainless steel tray and another in a non-stick metal one. The stainless steel tray gives you the best result (a more distinct hump, even colour).

You can also check out this matcha madeleines post for its recipe and for more madeleines making tips.

Ingredients:
230g unsalted butter
240g eggs, room temperature
185g granulated sugar
235g  plain flour
zest from 1 yuzu, finely grated
zest from 1/2 lemon
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Method:
1. Chop up butter into cubes before melting it over low heat. When the butter is melted, let it cool before using.
2. Sift the flour and baking soda and whisk to mix thoroughly.
3. Place the room temperature eggs in a mixer bowl and whisk at medium speed for about 30 seconds.
4. Add in sugar to the eggs and whisk on medium-high speed for about 5-8 minutes until pale, thick. The batter should be at ribbon stage. It is important not to underbeat at this stage.
5. Add in the sifted ingredients in three additions – using a paddle attachment, beat at low speed until just incorporated.
6. Gradually pour in the melted and cooled butter while the mixer is still running. Do not pour all at once if not it will be difficult to incorporate the large amount of butter into the batter. Mix until well-incorporated.
7. Cling wrap the bowl and refrigerate the batter for at least 3 hours or overnight. The batter could be kept in the fridge for up to a few days.
8. Butter your madeleine trays generously especially around the crevices and place the tray(s) in the freezer.
9. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Take out the madeleine moulds from the freezer and dust flour over the moulds, inverting the trays to tap our any excess flour.
10. Fill a piping bag and pipe each cavity to about 3/4 full. Since the batter is cold (right out from the fridge), these took about 15 minutes to bake. If you are baking them on the same day of making the batter, they may take a shorter time (check at 10 minutes). The madeleines should be well-risen, with its distinctive hump. The edges should be golden brown.
11. Invert the madeleines onto a wire rack. They should come out easily if you have done a good job at buttering the trays. Best served immediately, dusted with icing sugar, while still warm. Alternatively, you can glaze them lightly with a yuzu lemon glaze.

Yuzu lemon glaze

Ingredients:
150g icing/confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp yuzu juice

Method:
1. Stir together the sifted icing sugar with the lemon and yuzu juice. Thin it down with water if you need to. The glaze should be smooth and just thick enough to coat the madeleines and for the excess to run off.

Glazing the madeleines
1. After you have taken the madeleines out from the oven, let it sit in the tray for about 5 minutes before you remove.
2. Dip the madeleines one by one into your glaze while still hot an use the palette knife to ease off any excess.
3. Place the madeleines onto a cooling rack, hump side down, for excess glaze to drip off.

*Storage tip: Eat these immediately or store them in an air-tight container and heat up (only the non-glazed ones) until warm before eating.