A version of the famous French biscuit, madeleine, made with brown butter, ground almonds and egg whites. It’s even better than the original classic!
Is brown butter the same as clarified butter?
Clarified butter, ghee and brown butter are all results of heating butter until the milk particles separate.
Ghee is a version of clarified butter but there’s no difference other than cultural: it’s the name used in Indian cuisines. Because the milk proteins are removed, usually by straining, and they are what burns when butter is excessively heated, the butter thus processed has a high smoking point and can be used for frying.
Brown butter, or beurre noisette, is heated for longer, to the point when the milk solids drop to the bottom of the pan, toast and brown, lending a wonderful nutty fragrance and a deep, toasty flavour to the butter.
Sometimes brown butter is strained to make it smooth and light-coloured, but even then the flavour will be deeper and nuttier than that of ghee.
How to make brown butter
It is easy but you must be watchful. Once butter melts in a pan, it starts foaming then spitting and sputtering, making quite a bit of noise. You should look out for when it suddenly goes quiet: that means all the water content has evaporated and the milk solids are starting to cook.
Watch the bottom of the pan, stirring them every now and then and adjusting the heat, and when they are deep brown and the butter smells divine, take it off the heat.
You can strain it if the brown bits bother you, but I usually leave them in for the enhanced flavour.
It keeps as well as ordinary butter in the fridge, so it’s worth making a bigger amount. And once you’ve tried it in scrambled eggs or biscuits, you’ll be making batches of it all the time.
How to make madeleine batter
The best thing about the batter is that it can sit in the fridge for up to five days, used as and when you fancy a madeleine. The second best thing is that, once you’ve made the brown butter, it takes about thirty seconds to mix it.
The flour with almonds and icing sugar is stirred in a bowl, and egg whites can be whisked in with just a fork. Next the honey and lemon zest are incorporated, with the brown butter mixed in while it’s still warm but not hot.
Storing and baking
That batter should chill for an hour at least. But I like to make it ahead and store it in the fridge, baking a few of these treats at a time over several days.
You can bake them more or less, as you please, the 12 minutes indicated in the recipe giving you barely brown though cooked through madeleines. I normally prefer things pale but in this instance I keep my madeleines in the oven until deeply browned, for that delightfully crunchy edge when popped out of the tin.
You can dust them with icing sugar before or after extracting them from the tin. Or not at all – they are plenty lovely anyway.
More French biscuit recipes
Financier biscuits, French mini almond cakes made with brown butter are deliciously moist, light and tender, a little like madeleines and really easy to make.
Authentic French almond macarons are very expensive, but you can make them at home. With dark chocolate ganache and lemon curd filling, they will be the most exquisite dessert you can possibly make.
Petit beurre biscuits: the childhood throwback and a plain and simple accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. Easily made with a special stamp cutter.
More egg white and almond based sweets
Ricciarelli, almond shaped and almond flavoured biscuits from Siena, traditionally made and gifted for Christmas. An authentic recipe for these delightful marzipan sweets.
Cherry cream dacquoise is an exquisite gateau which is far easier to make than you’d think. Almond meringue dacquoise layers filled with fresh cream and homemade candied cherries – a riff on black forest gateau.
Recipe for croquants aux amandes, French almond cookies. ‘Croquant’ means ‘crunchy’ and these biscuits are wonderfully brittle, softening a little if stored longer.