White chocolate scattered with seaweed—tempted to take a bite? Mago Food Lab’s white-chocolate-coated madeleine brings gim, Korean seaweed, into both the batter and the decoration. 1
In its August 11, 2026 announcement, the dessert maker said it had completed two madeleine varieties using unseasoned gim in the batter and was beginning supply to businesses. 1
Pick your finish
The company describes its white-chocolate-coated gim madeleine (김 블랑 마들렌) as moist, with a nutty, gently savory finish beneath that seaweed-scattered white surface. 1 That’s the combination I’d be curious to try first.
Its crumble-topped gim madeleine (김 크럼 마들렌) takes another approach: a crisp crumble topping adds textural contrast, while the gim’s aroma emerges as you chew, according to the same announcement. 1 If a little crunch sounds more tempting, this is the version to keep in mind. 1
What happens to the sweetness?
Mago Food Lab explains the pairing through gim’s mild saltiness and umami, which it says temper the lingering sweet finish; the maker compares the idea to adding salt to caramel. 1
The useful distinction is between balancing sweetness and reducing sugar: the company describes adding flavors that complement sweetness, rather than removing sugar. 1 Its explanation therefore doesn’t establish that these madeleines contain less sugar. 1
Another way to put gim on cake
VEZZLY, the bakery brand operated by Hyundai Green Food, offers a related example through its collaboration with Ottogi: a gim-bugak financier (김부각 휘낭시에) topped with glutinous-rice seaweed crisps. 2
The placement makes the comparison useful: Mago Food Lab mixes unseasoned gim into its madeleine batter, while VEZZLY puts gim bugak on top of the financier. 1 2 Mago’s crumble version also shows that gim in the batter can come with a crisp topping of its own. 1
VEZZLY’s collaboration was announced for limited sale through September 11, 2026, at 12 stores inside Hyundai Department Store locations. 2 Mago’s announcement concerns business supply—individually wrapped, frozen pastries that cafes can thaw as needed—and identifies no specific retail stockist or US buying location for the madeleines. 1
For my pastry wish list, that white-chocolate-and-gim pairing gets the first spot.
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