Nutty Brown Butter Madeleines

These delicious madeleines have a crisp outer shell with light, buttery fluffiness on the inside. The flavour comes from the butter being browned on the hob and enhanced by the roasted hazelnut. They are fairly close to a classic madeleine, and the only changes that I have made are to emphasise the toasty, nuttiness of the butter. I find that this tempers the sweetness of the madeleine and gives a satisfying savoury note.

For the most part, this madeleine recipe is equal quantities (butter to flours to sugars), but everything has been tweaked slightly to maximise flavour without straying too far from a classic madeleine. When browning the butter, I push it as far as I can without burning it. This makes it the colour of a freshly brewed coffee that has a strong nutty aroma. To enhance this flavour, I toast ground hazelnuts until they are the colour of a rich gingerbread. They will feel like they are on the cusp of being inedible, but be brave because the madeleine will be worth it.

You will need a madeleine tray if you want to get the classic scallop shape from your madeleines. Try to use a metal one, as you are unlikely to get a crisp outer shell from a silicone mould.

*This recipe made 24 madeleines for me, but it can easily be halved or doubled as needed.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Madeleine tray, preferably metal

Mixing Bowl

Spatula

Whisk

Tablespoons

Saucepan

Baking Tray

Mesh Tea Strainer

INGREDIENTS

100g Butter (plus extra for greasing)

40g Ground Hazelnut

60g Plain Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Big Pinch of Salt

50g Brown Sugar

50g Caster Sugar

Big Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1) Cut the butter into cubes and place it in a saucepan. Warm on the hob over a low heat to melt it, then turn the heat up to medium. The butter will take a little while to start browning, but once it does it can quickly become burnt and unusable, so keep an close eye on it. When the butter is the colour of a weak coffee and smelling nutty, turn the heat down a bit but keep going until it is the colour of a freshly brewed coffee, but still definitely brown and not black. Remove the butter from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. If you have one, pass it through a mesh tea strainer to remove any large milk solids, otherwise just leave it to cool to room temperature in a small bowl.

Sprinkle the hazelnuts onto the baking tray and put them in the oven at 180°C for between 10-15 minutes, checking frequently to shake them and make sure they are not burning. The hazelnuts are done when they resemble dark gingerbread crumbs and smell amazing.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and in another bowl mix together the sugars. Now your ingredients are ready to go.

2) Rub a small amount of butter into the madeleine moulds making sure they are well covered. Sprinkle the tray with flour and tip off the excess so that a light and gap-free layer remains. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

3) Whisk the eggs and the sugar together until frothy, almost like a bubbly pancake batter. Add the flours, nuts and butter and whisk into a smooth, glossy cake batter. If you were unable to strain your brown butter earlier, leave a teaspoon amount of butter left at the bottom of the ramekin to avoid pouring the sediment into the mixture.

4) Leave this to sit for 20 minutes. It will thicken slightly and have some air bubbles through it as the raising agent starts working. Give it a gentle stir and place a tablespoon of batter in each madeleine mould. It will settle out when baking, so do not worry that the dollops are not flat. Bake the madeleines for 10-12 minutes until golden with a small dome in the middle.

5) Leave them cool slightly for the crisp shell to develop, then serve with a cup of tea. These are best eaten on the day they are made, so don't feel bad for having them all in one go!