Snowball madeleines

50 MINUTES + COOLING + FREEZING | MAKES 12 | EASY

The only thing English madeleines have in common with their cousins from across the Channel is their small size and the name. The homegrown variety is a simple butter cake rolled in jam and coconut, not dissimilar to the Aussie lamington. To give my version a Christmas spin they’re infused with the flavours of a classic snowball cocktail.

MADELEINE CAKES unsalted butter 165g, softened, plus extra for the tin caster sugar 165g lemon 1, zested eggs 3 large vanilla extract 1 tsp self-raising flour 165g COATING seedless jam 160g (cherry or raspberry) desiccated coconut 125g glacé cherries 12 red edible glitter

FILLING double cream 100ml advocaat 50ml caster sugar 1 tsp

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and butter a 12-hole muffin tin.

• Put the butter, sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl, and beat together using an electric mixer for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour until a smooth batter is formed. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin holes and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and the cakes spring back to a light touch. Check they are loose in the tin, then carefully remove onto a wire rack and cool.

• Meanwhile, put the jam and 5 tbsp of water into a small pan. Cook over mediumhigh heat, whisking to break up the jam, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes before pouring into a wide shallow bowl. Cool for 5 minutes. Scatter the desiccated coconut onto a large plate.

• Use a serrated knife to remove any domes from the cakes and carefully cut out the middles, leaving a 2cm border. Whisk together the cream, advocaat and sugar until the mixture holds soft peaks. Spoon or pipe a little of the cream into each cake and seal with some of the cake off-cuts (see cook’s notes). Freeze for 10 minutes then roll the chilled cakes in the warm jam mixture, transfer to the coconut and roll to coat completely. Roll the cherries in edible glitter and use to top the cakes. These will keep for 2 days in a sealed container.

COOK’S NOTES Use any left-over cake off-cuts to line a trifle (see page 66) or as a chef’s treat.

PER SERVING 401 KCALS | FAT 23.9G SATURATES 16G | CARBS 39.2G | SUGARS 25.2G FIBRE 2.7G | PROTEIN 4.3G | SALT 0.2G