Brown Butter & Almond Madeleines

Sometimes you just want a light snack that's quick to put together and today that takes the form of a brown butter and almond madeleine! These delightful little cakes are delicately crisp on the outside but so light and fluffy inside. I could eat a whole plate to myself with a cup of coffee.

Watch how to make them below:

Yields: 8 madeleines

E Q U I P M E N T:

1 madeleines tin

I N G R E D I E N T S:

75g butter, room temperature, cubed

(60g brown butter)

1 egg, medium, room temperature

60g plain flour (10% protein)

50g caster sugar

5g honey

1 tsp vanilla paste or extract

½ tsp baking powder

15g almond flakes

+ extra butter and flour for lining the tin

M E T H O D:

Step 1. PREHEAT OVEN

Preheat the oven to 210°C (conventional oven) / 190°C (convection oven/fan-assisted) and place the madeleine tin into the fridge.

Step 2. BROWN BUTTER

Heat the butter in a stainless steel or light coloured pan on a low heat, stirring constantly until the butter has melted, boiled and foamed. Once the butter turns golden brown, take it off the heat immediately and pour into a heatproof jug. Set aside to cool slightly as you prepare the rest of the batter.

Step 3. LINE THE TIN

Remove the chilled tin from the fridge and brush each hole with some butter before sifting over a thin layer of flour. Tap the tin on the worktop to knock off any excess flour and then return the tin to the fridge to keep chilled.

Step 4. DRY INGREDIENTS

To a large mixing bowl, sift in the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Step 5. WET INGREDIENTS

In a separate bowl, add the egg and lightly whisk. This is mainly to make sure we don't add any egg shells or a bad egg to the dry ingredients. Add this to our dry ingredients, along with the honey, and vanilla. Using only a hand whisk, mix everything together until just combined.

Step 4. BUTTER

Once you have a thick sticky batter, we can add in our liquid brown butter and stir it in until combined and smooth.

Step 5. PIPING & BAKING

Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe the batter into our tin, filling each hole around 80-90% full. Remember to throw some flaked almonds over the top. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (conventional oven) / 180°C (convection oven/fan-assisted) and bake immediately for 10-12 minutes.

Step 6. SERVE

Allow the madeleines to cool slightly in the tin before turning them over. After a couple more minutes, the madeleines are ready to serve. Typically madeleines are best eaten within the first hour if you want to enjoy the crisp outer texture.