Brown Butter Espresso Madeleines Recipe

Step 1

Brown the butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt your butter. Continue to heat until the butter foams up and the melted butter below turns golden and then to a golden brown colour and has a nutty fragrance. This takes about 4-5 minutes.  Note, the butter turns very quickly from golden to burnt. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, and cool to room temperature. Set aside 1 tablespoon worth of butter, this will be used to brush the pans with later on.

Step 2

Whip the eggs and sugar. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the eggs and sugar and beat on medium for 5 minutes until pale and thick. Add the flavouring. Decrease the speed to low and add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Step 3

Sift dry ingredients into the batter. Sift into the bowl the flour, baking powder and salt and mix on low until a few flour streaks remain.

Step 4

Pour in the melted butter. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and slowly pour in the melted butter. Make sure to scrape in all the brown bits that will have settled at the bottom of the butter bowl. Gently fold in the butter with the rubber spatula ensuring that you don't knock out all the air.Refrigerate Batter. Cover the batter with cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or ideally overnight.

Step 5

Prepare the Madeleine pans. 30 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Using the brown butter that you set aside earlier, melt in the microwave if it has solidified. Using a pastry brush, grease all the moulds of your Madeleines pans with the melted butter. Lightly dust each mould with flour and tap out any excess. Place the pans in the refrigerator until the oven has come to temperature and you are ready to fill them with the batter.Fill pans and bake. Once the oven is at temperature, remove the batter from the fridge and one Madeleine pan. Fill the deepest part of each well with 1 level tablespoon of batter. Do not level the batter out. Remove the other pan from the fridge and fill it in the same way.  Place madeleines pans in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, check after 8 minutes and rotate the pans. They are ready when the ‘humps’ have risen, and they‘re browned on the edges.

Step 6

Turn out onto wire rack. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before removing them from the pans and allowing them to cool. (Tip: give the pans a little jiggle, and they should pop out. If they stick, run a knife around the edges to loosen them.)

Step 7

Make the glaze. Add the hot water to the espresso powder and mix until the coffee is combined. Add the icing sugar, vanilla extract, and two tablespoons of coffee in a separate bowl and whisk the ingredients until a smooth and drippy glaze forms. If the mixture is too thick, add a teaspoon at a time of milk (or more coffee if you want a stronger taste) and whisk till combined. Or, if too thin, you can thicken it by adding a ¼ cup of icing sugar and whisking until the desired consistency has been reached. The icing mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Step 8

Dip the shell side. Dip the madeleine's shell side into the espresso glaze until coated, and then dip the bottom half of the madeleine into the chopped walnuts. Place on a wire rack until set. Serve immediately.