Madeleines
A brown-butter batter rested cold for two hours, then piped into a buttered tin and baked hot so each shell rises with a hump.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 10m
- Waiting
- 2h 15m
- Total
- 2h 45m
- Serves
- 18 madeleines
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 | Whisk eggs, sugar and honey to a thick ribbon, then sift in the dry 8m Ribbon stage means a drizzle sits on the surface for three seconds. | Fold in the brown butter last, in two additions 3m Adding fat to an aerated batter always goes last, and always gently. | Chill the batter at least 2 hours, then pipe into the cold buttered tin 2h 10m Fill each shell three-quarters full and resist the urge to spread it. | Bake at 200°C / 400°F for 9 minutes until the humps rise and the edges brown 9m Knock them out of the tin the second they come out or they steam and go soft. | |
| 130 g | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 130 g | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 lemon | |||||
| a pinch | |||||
| 130 g | Brown the butter to hazelnut, then cool to lukewarm 8m Take it off the heat while the solids are amber. They keep darkening in the pan. | ||||
| 20 g | |||||
-
Whisk eggs, sugar and honey to a thick ribbon, then sift in the dry
8m- eggs 3
- caster sugar 130 g
- honey 1 tbsp
- plain flour 130 g
- baking powder 1 tsp
- lemon zest 1 lemon
- fine salt a pinch
Ribbon stage means a drizzle sits on the surface for three seconds.
-
Brown the butter to hazelnut, then cool to lukewarm
8m- unsalted butter 130 g
Take it off the heat while the solids are amber. They keep darkening in the pan.
-
Fold in the brown butter last, in two additions
3m- from 1 Whisk eggs, sugar and honey to a thick ribbon, then sift in the dry
- from 2 Brown the butter to hazelnut, then cool to lukewarm
Adding fat to an aerated batter always goes last, and always gently.
-
Chill the batter at least 2 hours, then pipe into the cold buttered tin
2h 10m- from 3 Fold in the brown butter last, in two additions
- unsalted butter 20 g
Fill each shell three-quarters full and resist the urge to spread it.
-
Bake at 200°C / 400°F for 9 minutes until the humps rise and the edges brown
9m- from 4 Chill the batter at least 2 hours, then pipe into the cold buttered tin
Knock them out of the tin the second they come out or they steam and go soft.
Where the hump comes from
The bump is a thermal accident, deliberately engineered. Cold batter in a cold tin hitting a 200°C oven sets its outer skin almost immediately while the centre is still fluid. The baking powder and the steam then have nowhere to go but up through the one part still soft, and the middle domes. Warm batter sets evenly and bakes flat. The two-hour rest also hydrates the flour, which thickens the batter so it holds its shape while that skin forms.
Notes
- Butter and flour the tin even if it is nonstick. The dusting gives the batter something to climb.
- Overnight resting is better than two hours, and the batter keeps three days.
- They are a two-hour bake at best. Genuinely, eat them warm.