This recipe is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

Madeleines are soft and spongy mini cakes with a signature shell shape and make a pretty trifle layer in place of the classic sponge.

MADELEINE, MANGO & PASSIONFRUIT TRIFLE

Prep: 20 minutes plus 10 minutes to chill | Cook: 10 minutes | Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

Madeleines

110g plain flour

¼ tsp baking powder

2 large free-range eggs

100g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

120g butter, melted and cooled

Trifle

200ml cream, whipped

250g mascarpone

3 x 425g cans mangos, drained and chopped

Cup passionfruit syrup

¼ cup liqueur of choice, such as Cointreau or Malibu (optional)

750ml vanilla custard

3 passionfruit, cut in half

Method

Madeleines: Put flour and baking powder in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Put eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until thick and pale. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold into the batter until just combined then gently fold in the melted butter, taking care not to deflate the batter. Cover and rest the batter in the fridge for 10 minutes while heating the oven to 180C (160C fan-bake). Grease the madeleine pans and freeze for 10 minutes.

Remove the batter from the fridge and give it a couple of stirs. Remove the madeleine pans from the freezer and spoon batter to fill the cavities by two thirds. This mixture makes 20 madeleines and may need to be cooked in 2 batches. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Trifle: Combine the whipped cream and mascarpone. Keep chilled. Put the chopped mango in the base of a trifle bowl. Arrange a layer of madeleines on top and around the sides of the dish then drizzle with passionfruit syrup and liqueur, if desired. Spread with a layer of custard and top with the mascarpone cream. Keep chilled until ready to serve. Decorate with fresh passionfruit.