Baking Bouchon - Recipe 18: Pistachio Madeleines

Madeleines are back!  I really should have just made these when I made the traditional madeleines, because it's pretty much the same recipe minus the lemon and plus some pistachio.  Oh well, more cake for me.

This time I did have all the correct ingredients minus the pistachio paste (last time I had an unexpected honey shortage and had to substitute agave which ended up being a non-issue).  Instead, I had pistachio "essence".  It was essentially like extract but had thick consistency.  I think it added plenty of pistachio flavor, but apparently the paste has a vivid green color which my essence did not.  I thought about adding some food coloring, but I didn't.

Now that I think about it, I totally should have because it would have been festive for St. Patty's Day. 

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to drink more beer.

I know I've mentioned before that the recipes in this book do not call for a specific number of eggs, they call for eggs by weight.  It seems not all eggs are created equal.  This made me nervous at first because I was never sure how many eggs to crack, but I've gotten used to it and have my system down pat.  I put my eggs in a bowl and whisk them up really well, then put a second bowl on my scale with a strainer on top and strain the eggs through.  Once I get to the right measurement, I shift the strainer to a second bowl to catch anything that is left.  I've been refrigerating the leftovers and use them for the next recipe.  I'm not entirely sure how long eggs can keep in the fridge like that but I've been going through eggs at lightning speed so they never sit there for very long.

The batter came together easily...  mix eggs and sugar... add dry ingredients... melt butter, brown sugar and honey... add that to the mix... add pistachio paste/essence... voila, pistachio cake batter.

I over filled, then over baked them a little bit so they were not quite as moist as the traditional madeleines were but they were still really good.  I liked the pistachio flavor a lot.  I actually wish I had put that essence in the biscotti I made the other day.  It would have been delicious.  What else can I put this stuff in?  Cookies?  Pie crust?  Brownies?  Biscuits?  Yikes!  I can see now that I've taken this too far because no good Southern girl messes with biscuits.

Julie