Brown Butter Whiskey Madeleines! Who else has nostalgic memories of madeleines from delifrance as a child 🙂 🙋🏻
Shoutout to my friend Sam Tan who co-founded Eastfield ceramics – check out their ceramic pieces on their instagram page here! Feel so happy when I see her utilizing this creative outlet and enjoying it so much ☺️☺️. It’s quite touching seeing her do this despite the long hours and easy burn outs in medicine.
We went with Buttermilk Pantry’s recipe – and loved her incorporation of browned butter, whiskey and light addition of flour to help with lighter crumb. She’s looked into the intricacies of a perfect madeleine. Madeleines a French pastry are known for their signature seashell shape, with a signature hump and crisp edges from the bumpy edges and the crust. Technique wise, they rely on air, gentle folding, and temperature control. Some madeleine tips I got from Danielle Bauer:
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- Eggs should be at room temperature – this allows the proteins to denature and foam more easily to emulsify air in the batter.
- Fold flour gently!
- Before baking, the dough should chill in order to allow the flour to fully hydrate. This also helps to relax the dough by disrupting the gluten strands, and also creates a larger temperature difference – this helps batter rise when its in the oven, creating the characteristic hump from the burst of steam when it bakes.
Decoration tips: if you would like, after the madeleines are removed from the pan, some people like to brush on white chocolate or dark chocolate on the moulds and place the madeleines back in. This creates a really lovely design like here and here!
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Brown Butter Whiskey Madeleines Madeleine Batter |
To make Madeleines Brown butter until the milk solids turn dark brown and set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, salt and sugars together until smooth. Add whisky and vanilla extract and whisk again. Sift the flour and baking powder in, and whisk until smooth and just combined Add the browned butter (if the brown butter is no longer warm, heat it back up until it’s warm. This helps with activating the baking powder in this initial stage, and around 60C would be ideal). Whisk until combined. Add cream and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cover with cling wrap and rest in fridge overnight up to 24hrs (ideally – we let it rest for 30 minutes). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 220C. Brush Madeleine molds with thin layer of melted butter. Remove Madeleine mixture from the fridge and use a spatula to loosen up slightly ~20-30 seconds. Fill mixture into the molds until 80%-90% full. Place tray into oven and lower temp to 180C and bake for 10 mins until the bump develops, and it feels springy when pressed gently. Optional: Make the glaze with icing sugar, whiskey, and brush on top of the madeleines. Bake for 1 min at 170C until glaze sets, transfer to rack to cool. |
My Dose of Sugar 