Madeleines, fresh from the oven, are just heavenly. There is simply nothing better. These small mussel-shaped cakes are simple, quick to bake, and unbelievably tasty. Sounds too good to true? Ask the author Marcel Proust, whose memory of eating and loving a madeleine as a child went into the story of In Search of Lost Time and is later alluded to in the Disney film Ratatouille.
Anyway, time to stop the praises and get back to the matter at hand: brown butter and honey madeleines. The batter is pretty easy, with the normal store-cupboard ingredients of flour, sugar, and eggs. However, everything becomes a bit more grown-up and elegant with the addition of brown butter and honey. Honestly, if you’ve not yet made brown butter, you should make it as soon as you can. It makes everything better, especially pasta and these cookies. You need to watch out that the butter doesn’t burn, but the total process is quite simple and doesn’t take too long.
Despite their simplicity, it’s unfortunately not so easy to make these without a special baking tin. Luckily, they are available almost everywhere, like this one from Sostrene Grene (Є3.78) or here from Le Creuset (Є35). Whichever tin you go for, try and get a non-stick one, as madeleines are sometimes hard to remove. A top trick that can also help is to smear butter on the tin, lightly sieve flour over the top, and then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. I definitely recommend this to avoid future disappointment!
Brown Butter and Honey Madeleines
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 130 g sugar
- 20 g demerera sugar
- 160g g brown butter
- 35 g honey
- 165 g plain flour
- 9 g baking powder
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together
- Add the melted brown butter and honey.
- Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the wet mixture.
- Once everything is mixed, pour the batter into a bowl and leave in the fridge for a minimum of four hours.
- Preheat oven to 180 °C fan
- Butter and flour a Madeleine baking tray. Place in the fridge for thirty minutes if desired.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes and enjoy!
These madeleines are at their best when they’re warm as they’re still a little crispy, so this is a good recipe for the inpatient. However, after the bake is a great place to get creative! You could dip half the madeleine in chocolate and sprinkle chopped nuts or coconut over the top, or you could keep it simple with a light dusting of icing sugar. The recipe is also very adaptable. Add lemon or orange zest instead of honey, chocolate chunks also go great here, or even a bit of rum.
There are endless possibilities for how to bake these lovely, small delicacies, and I hope you enjoy every bite!
