Madeleines are my favorite treat to bake that is an easy crowd pleaser. They look fancy but they aren’t really much more work than your standard cupcake. The madeleine mold is half the work already! Okay, I say that but then this recipe is on the more involved side. Taking two great recipes and truly making homemade pistachio madeleines. While there’s efficiency in buying store ingredients, like pistachio paste, making them at home can be simple and way tastier!
Part of the joy of these madeleines is browned butter. I’m a true believer that browned butter is key to elevating all recipes! What’s more to love than a nutty flavor to buttery goodness? If you haven’t made browned butter, don’t skimp out here! If you’re on a time crunch, I guess you’re allowed to use normal melted butter.
Madeleine pans aren’t any more expensive than normal cake pans, depending on the quality of the pan. Mine is made by Wilton and I think it was probably the cheaper of 2 that I tested. It’s got a great silicone, non-stick coating that helps so much with removing the cakes from the pan, although butter is still needed!
I’ve made it a standard process now to butter and refrigerate my pan before scooping batter in the molds. Then refrigerating it again before sending the cakes to the oven to be baked. This always does the trick for unmolding the madeleines, or so I believe. Between batches, remember to stick the molds back in the fridge to cool off and as the first batch bakes, refrigerate the batter too!
For this recipe, I used a food processor to blend pistachio, powdered sugar and water. And simply mixed it into my batter made.
Honey Pistachio Madeleines
Ingredients
- 3/4 c pistachio
- 3/4 c powdered sugar
- 1/4 c water
- 1/2 c butter
- 1.5 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 3/4 c flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 c sugar
Instructions
- Make the pistachio paste: In a food processor, blend the pistachio, powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp of water. Continue adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time until the mixture becomes a thick, smooth paste.
- Make browned butter: In a saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat and continually whisk until the butter turns dark.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in the brown sugar and honey.
- The madeleines: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until pale, light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Fold the flour mixture into egg mixture in 2 batches.
- Add the pistachio paste, fold till barely streaking. Add the butter mixture, fold again until combined.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for 30 min to cool.
- Set the oven to 350℉. Butter the madeleine pan and place it in fridge until cold to touch.
- Once batter and pan are chilled, spoon batter onto pan, about 3/4 full. Chill the batter in the pan in the fridge for another 10 minutes in case of warming.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before unmolding with a toothpick or knife.
- Chill the pan again and repeat for a second batch. Enjoy!
Notes
- There's a couple different parts to this recipe, but the key is adding honey into the browned butter. You can skip browning the butter but that decreases the nutty flavor.
- You can use 1/4 cup of pistachio paste instead of making it yourself.
- Err on the side of under mixing to allow the eggs to still be fluffy in the batter.
- Refrigerating the batter and pan is key to crispy cakes that are easy to unmold
- Recipes based on Hummingbird High Rustic Pistachio Madeleines and Serious Eats
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