These gingerbread madeleine sandwiches add a delicious festive twist on the traditional French treat. Gently spiced and wonderfully light, the rich white chocolate buttercream centre ensures these taste like little bites of heaven.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until the mixture is light and foamy.
Whisk the flour, spices, almond meal and baking powder in a separate bowl to remove any lumps. Gently fold the flour mixture into the whisked eggs little by little until everything is just combined.
Add the melted butter and gently mix. Transfer the batter to a container with a lid and place in the fridge for at least three hours.
When you are ready to bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 220oC and prepare your madeleine trays by greasing them with butter then dusting with flour.
Divide the batter between the prepared madeleine trays by filling each cavity until they are about 3/4 full. Do not overfill each cavity, mini madeleines only need 1 tsp of batter.
Reduce the oven temperature to 170oC and bake until the edges of the madeleines are lightly golden and they have risen. Baking will take 8-9 minutes in a silicone mini madeleine tray and 7-8 minutes in a metal mini madeleine tray.
Remove madeleines immediately from their trays and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Allow the madeleines to cool shell side up as they may stick to your wire rack a little.
To make the filling, beat the butter and vanilla until it is light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Then add the icing sugar and beat until it is well combined. Finally add the melted white chocolate and beat until it is well combined.
Pipe icing over the underside (not the shell side) of half of the madeleines. Then sandwich together with the remaining madeleines so the shell side is facing outwards.
Decorate the sides of the icing with some gold cachous if desired and tie each madeleine sandwich with a thin gold ribbon.