Toffee butterscotch madeleines with physalis

Hmm, what to do with a bag of physalis (or cape gooseberries)?

Chocolate covered cape gooseberries

The last time I bought some I dipped them in white chocolate and them drizzled dark chocolate over the top and added them to a celebration cake. It got a lot of comments that they looked like golden snitch from the Harry Potter books!

This time around I thought I’d bake them into something but as they have a delicate but rather beautiful taste I didn’t want to drown them. I thought that the ratio of sponge to fruit out to be low and that I do know their taste goes rather well will toffee or butterscotch flavours.

So… welcome to toffee butterscotch madeleines with physalis.

Notes

Makes about 18 madeleines

Equipment

• Small saucepan
• Bowl
• Balloon whisk
• Madeleine moulds/tray(s)
• Pastry brush
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter – 100g (plus a bit extra for brushing the moulds)
• Golden syrup – 1 1/2 tablespoons
• Eggs, medium – 2
• Golden caster sugar or soft brown sugar – 65g (avoid white sugar to increase the toffee flavour)
• Plain flour – 75g
• Baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Bicarbonate of soda – 1/2 teaspoons
• Fine sea salt – a pinch
• About 10 physalis
• Icing sugar for dusting

Method

• Turn your oven on  170°C fan / 190 conventional
• Put the butter and golden syrup in a pan and bring up to just before bubbling – swirl the pan to combine the ingredients and leave to one side
• Unfurl the physalis from their little leaf jackets and discard the leaves
• Chop each little berry in half
• Melt a little additional butter and paint the madeleine shell cavities using the pastry brush
• Pop the trays in the freezer for a couple of minutes
• Whisk the eggs and sugar together in the bowl until pale and fluffy
• Take out the tray and brush again with the melted butter and then dust with some extra flour (not taken from the 75g)
• To the whisked eggs and sugar, add in the salt, bicarb, baking powder and flour and mix together until smooth
• Gently pour and mix in the golden syrup and butter mixture and combine gently but completely
• Pop a couple of the berry halves into each madeleine cavity
• Spoon the batter into the trays
• Each cavity should be filled to about two thirds full
• Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until slightly golden and each little cake should spring back when pressed gently with a finger
• Leave to cool slightly in the trays and then turn out onto a wire rack – but make sure the shell side is facing upwards (or the lovely shell pattern will be ruined by the wire rack)
• Dust with icing sugar and ideally serve while still slightly warm

MMmmmm

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