I am determined to post my Twelve Days of Cookies list before the holiday season ends. I stand a chance if I start now. This month, Food 52 Baking Club is featuring Ottolenghi’s book Sweet, co-authored with Helen Goh, his dessert partner in crime. As with all Ottolenghi books, this one is beautiful, worthy of your coffee table, but more importantly, worthy of use in your kitchen.
A long, long time ago in a kitchen somewhere far away, I tried to make madeleines. I flopped and relegated my madeleine pans to the back of a kitchen cabinet. Looking for a recipe to try for National Cookie Day (yesterday, hope you made a batch), I came across Ottolenghi’s Saffron, Orange, and Honey Madeleines. They looked and sounded so delicious, I pulled out my forgotten pans and gave it the old college try.
Proust Would Be Proud
I’m glad I did. The madeleines are buttery, cakey, tender, everything a madeleine should be and more.
Make the batter in a food processor (oh snap). Whirl the eggs and sugar in it, then add the flour and leavening, pulse a couple more times, then add the saffron-infused melted butter. Pour the batter into a WELL BUTTERED AND FLOURED pan (trust me on this) and bake for 7-9 minutes. The aroma of vanilla, butter, and orange will fill your kitchen in a few minutes, adding to the anticipation.
Place the pan on a cooling rack to cool the madeleines. Pop the cooled madeleines out of their shells (haha, get it?), paint with heated honey (watch your fingers, the honey is hot), and roll in ground pistachios.
So good. If you don’t have a madeleine pan, you could probably use a mini-muffin tin…they’ll still be delicious, they just won’t look the same (sigh).
Saffron, Orange, and Honey Madeleines
Equipment
- 1-2 Madeleine pans
Ingredients
Fat & Liquid Ingredients
- 13 tbsp unsalted butter plus more, melted, for brushing
- 7 tbsp honey divided
- ½ tsp saffron threads
- ½ vanilla bean seeds scraped
Egg Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ⅔ cup plus 2 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp finely grated orange zest
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 5 tbsp pistachios coarsely crushed
Instructions
- Melt and infuse the butter. In a small saucepan, melt 13 tablespoons of butter along with 4 tablespoons of honey and the saffron threads over low heat. Once melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Prepare the batter. In a food processor, combine the vanilla bean seeds, eggs, sugar, and orange zest. Process until the mixture is smooth and fully combined.
- Combine dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture in the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the cooled butter mixture. Pour the cooled honey-saffron butter into the food processor and process one last time until everything is just combined.
- Chill the batter. Pour the batter into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat and prepare the pan. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). For metal madeleine pans, brush the molds with melted butter and dust them liberally with flour. Knock out any excess flour by inverting the pan and tapping it.
- Fill and bake. Place a heaped tablespoon of the chilled batter into each madeleine mold, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the cakes have formed their characteristic dome and feel firm to the touch.
- Glaze and finish. Gently remove the madeleines from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack. In a separate small saucepan or microwave, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of honey until runny. Brush the shell side of each madeleine with the melted honey.
- Add pistachios. Roll the end of each madeleine in the crushed pistachios, letting them adhere to the honey glaze.
- Serve. Transfer the finished madeleines to a platter and serve immediately, or within a few hours.