I’m writing to you today from Rancho Del Ingles, in the midst of our third edition of Sobremesa, the culinary and food retreat set in the foothills of Málaga, along with Milli Taylor, Jordon King, Gitai Fisher and Bec Dickinson. As I write this, Chef Paco (the resident head chef at Rancho) is cooking a huge paella as our guests enjoy drinks by the fountain. We’ve just had a tortilla demo, and I’ll be running off in a second to help plate Milli’s Ajo Blanco, the chilled almond soup that has garnered standing ovations in previous incarnations of the retreat.
Rancho Del Ingles, the main backdrop of Sobremesa, was lovingly built by Milli’s parents, Miyuki and David, over the last three decades. It operates as a wedding venue most weekends of the year, but Milli snags a handful of dates and generously opens the gorgeous gates to guests for cooking classes, demos, and dinners that stretch long into the evening. We’ve been so lucky each edition of this retreat to be joined by such wonderful, curious and enthusiastic people – the energy is just brilliant.
Whilst I’ll have more stories and recipes and delicious things to share with you (the challenges of baking in 37°C and accidental reduced-fat butter…!), I’ll have to get into that when I’m back in London next week. For now, I’ll keep it brief with a recipe for Fig Leaf Madeleines, a riff on my original madeleine recipe from a few weeks ago, that we served as part of the welcome tea on the first day.
Just as you enter Rancho, there is a seriously productive fig tree, and even though I go to town on cutting its leaves each year, you can barely tell it’s had a haircut. The colour of these madeleines is positively Shrek-like, bursting with verdant green and that unmistakable aroma.
To adapt the original recipe to use oil, I’ve slightly adjusted the other liquids in the recipe, and I’ve omitted the honey since I think it would fight the fig leaf aroma. We only want happy families in our bakes, and I’m happy to say that this variation “humped” impressively!
All this to say is, I think you could make excellent olive oil madeleines, should you like that flavour, or use coconut oil, or even a nut oil if that sounds good to you. As ever, I hope you’ll always find these recipes as jumping-off points for making your pastry dreams come true!
Ok, let’s make it.
Makes about 10 regular-sized Madeleines. I have this tin.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.