Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Almond praliné madeleines

Almond praliné madeleines / Madeleines com praliné de amêndoas

You’ve probably heard that “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, right? Well, I haven’t made anything with lemons this time – which is pretty unusual for this blog – but the saying fits perfectly here.

I wanted to bake a special gift for a special young lady (more about that later on this week) and thought that dulce de leche macarons would make her happy. The problem is that my macarons ended up in the garbage can and I got stuck with a batch of praliné. A look at my bookshelf and inspiration hit me: I’d use one of Dorie’s madeleine recipes and add the crushed praliné to the batter. Worked like a charm. :D

Almond praliné madeleines / Madeleines com praliné de amêndoas

Almond praliné madeleines
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 recipe crushed praliné (recipe follows)

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and set aside.
Working with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, 2-3 minutes. Add the honey and vanilla and beat well. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients and the praliné. When they are incorporated, fold in the butter. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or for up to 2 days (it will firm up quite a bit).

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Butter 12-full size madeleines molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Spoon the batter into the molds ¾ full – don’t worry about leavening the batter, the oven’s heat will take care of that.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until madeleines are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan form the oven and release the madeleines from the mold.
Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

Makes 12 – I got 12 traditional-shaped madeleines + 9 scallop-shaped ones

Almond praliné:

3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup (38g) unblanched almonds

Line a baking sheet with foil and brush it lightly with oil. Set aside.
Combine the sugar and almonds in a heavy saucepan. Place over medium heat to begin melting the sugar. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon so the sugar melts and caramelizes evenly. Cook to a light amber color.
Scrape the praliné from the saucepan and spread it about 6mm (¼-inch) thick onto prepared foil. Let cool to room temperature for about 10 minutes. Break the hard praliné into about 3.5cm (1 ½-in) pieces, place them in a bowl of a food processor and quickly pulse until finely ground.

Almond praliné madeleines / Madeleines com praliné de amêndoas

21 comments:

Parita said...

Almond madeleines look delicious! soft and spongy!

Rose said...

WOW!! stunning! I'm craving those! =)

Aimée said...

Hello Lovely!

We're huge madeleine aficionados around here, but I get stuck in a rut. Thanks for the inspiration!

eatme_delicious said...

Oh wow you and your madeleine creations!! These look truly amazing.

anna said...

Ooh, what a good idea! You come up with some of the loveliest madeleines.

Anh said...

You know what I have NEVER made madeleine (Even though I bought the pan). You have inspired me to get around with it :)

Manggy said...

Oh, sorry about the macarons, but a bite of these would surely make me forget about them :) Look at those perfectly shaped beauties!

pam said...

Great save with your praline! Beautiful!

Risa said...

I love pralines. Any recipe that includes them is a winner in my opinion.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Parita, they were soft, indeed! Tks!

Rose, thank you!

Hi, beautiful! Hope you and the kids like it!

Ashley, I'm a madeleine addict, aren't I? :D
Tks, sweetie!

Anna, I'm glad to hear that, tks!

Anh, my dear, you should bake some as of now! :D

Mark, I won't give up on the macaron thing, you bet! :D
Thank you, my friend.

Pam, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? :D
Thank you!

Risa, I'm a sucker for all things praline, too. I'm glad to know you like the madeleines, tks!

Nic said...

I love the idea of adding crushed praline to the batter, they look fantastic!

Eléonora said...

I always break these little madeleines and the morning breakfast, I love the tea. Passe un bon week-end et à bientôt!

Julia @Mélanger said...

Yes, snap on the madeleines indeed! :) I LOVE the praline idea. Just perfect, perfect. Beautiful looking cakes. Well done!

Katie said...

WOW! They sound divine and looks so light.

Heather said...

These look wonderful! I made some regular madeleines a while back and thought that they were a bit plain. But madeleines with almond praline sound divine.

Sarah said...

Your madelines are always so beautiful!

Unknown said...

these will be perfect for my morning tea!!

Jaime said...

those look tasty but I love how cute your plate is even more!

Dragon said...

Madeleines are always so elegant. I love the flavours of this one!

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe! My 15 year old daughter made them and we posted about them here:
http://www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2012/08/almond-praline-madeleines.html

Bea said...

I love the recipe and the twist on it.

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