Pistachio and orange blossom water madeleines from Patricia Scarpin

Pistachio and orange blossom water madeleines

1 large egg
40g caster sugar
pinch of salt
25g unsalted pistachios
2 tablespoons of pure icing sugar
50g unsalted butter + 1 tablespoon for greasing pan
45g all purpose flour
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/428ºF; melt all the butter over a low heat, then leave to cool. Set aside a scant tablespoon of the cold, melted butter for greasing the pans, then flour them. Grind pistachios with icing sugar until fine.

Beat the egg, caster sugar and salt in a bowl for about 5 minutes, preferably with an electric mixer of some sort, until it’s as thick as mayonnaise or about 3 times the original volume-it will be pale and a lemony white. Then sprinkle in the flour; you can hold a sieve above the egg and sugar mixture, put the flour in it and shake it through.

Fold in the flour with a wooden spoon, fold in the butter along with the orange blossom water and the pistachio/icing sugar mixture. Mix well, but not too vigorously.

Spoon batter into tins, about 1 teaspoonful in each should do for mini madeleines or 1 tablespoon in each for regular sized madeleines. Don’t worry about covering the molded indentations; in the heat of the oven the mixture will spread before it rises. Bake for 7 minutes, or until springy to touch (though check after 5 minutes). Turn out and let cool on a rack, then arrange on a plate and dust with icing sugar.

This recipe made 12 regular madeleines for Lorraine; I doubled the recipe and got 15 regular and 12 large ones