Well I think I have probably bored you enough with pasta dishes, so decided a nice little treat was in order. I wanted to make this recipe as soon as I saw it and finally got round to ordering a Madeleine tin.

I must admit that I didn’t rush out and buy the Frangelico, but will be adding it to my booze collection at some point as I love hazelnuts and think this must be divine. I actually used up some left over Baileys which worked just as well.

Frangelico is a brand of noisette, or hazelnut and herb-flavored liqueur (coloured with caramel coloring) which is produced in Canale, Italy.

The origins of Frangelico date back more than 300 years to the existence of early Christian monks living in the hills of Northern Italy. According to Barbero, the manufacturer in Italy, the name of the liqueur is based on a legend of a hermit named Fra Angelico who “created unique recipes for liqueurs.” However, the bottle itself most closely resembles the habit of a Franciscan friar, while the liqueur’s likely namesake, the famous painter Fra Angelico (d.1455), was a Dominican, whose robe would have been white and without the cincture.

Frangelico is made in a similar manner to some other nut liqueurs: nuts are crumbled up and combined with cocoa, vanilla berries, and other natural flavors, and then left to soak in the base spirit. After the spirit has absorbed the flavor of the ingredients, the liqueur is filtered, sweetened, and bottled, all sounds petty yummy to me.

These lovely little Madeleines are gorgeous enjoyed warm with a good quality vanilla ice cream as a dessert or cold with an espresso.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
80g plain flour , 1 tbsp removed for dusting
½ tsp baking powder
20g ground almonds
2 tbsp cocoa , plus extra for dusting
75g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp Frangelico
90g unsalted butter , melted, plus extra for buttering the tin

 

Sift the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and cocoa with a pinch of salt.

Butter a 12-hole madeleine tin and dust each hole with a little of this mixture.

Whisk the sugar and eggs with electric beaters until thick, pale and fluffy. Gently fold in the flour mix, vanilla, Frangelico and butter.

Cover the surface of the mix with clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

Fill each cavity with 1 heaped tbsp of mix.

Bake for 10 minutes or until risen and springy.

Tap the tin to loosen and tip out.

Dust with cocoa and serve warm.

So simple, so delicious.