Christmas Pistachio Madeleines

Can you imagine what the sweetest Christmas tree would be like? It would surely be made of tender branches, with a flavor as delicate as these pistachio Christmas madeleines, with which I suggest making a perfect Christmas fir to preside over the table this holiday season. That is, if it doesn’t disappear the moment you bring it to the table, because the temptation is enormous!

Making this sweet tree is really easy. You will only need a polystyrene cone and a Buyer madeleine mold. One mold or several! Because if you like the idea, you can make the tree as big as you want to cover it with all the madeleines you've baked. It will make a wonderful Christmas fir and the best excuse to keep the little ones busy sticking the cupcakes on, although you’ll have to watch that they don’t eat them before placing them!

I sincerely hope these pistachio Christmas madeleines please you as much as they do me and that with them you make a sweet and wonderful Christmas tree. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

For the pistachio madeleines

• 2 large eggs
• 10 g of vanilla sugar
• 100 g of sugar
• 150 g of all-purpose flour
• 6 g of baking powder (chemical leavening like Royal)
• 75 g of butter
• 30 g of pistachio paste
• 40 g of pistachios finely chopped (in small pieces)

For the finishing

• 80 g of white chocolate
• 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

Preparation

Preparation of the pistachio madeleines

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave, being careful not to burn it,
2. When it is melted, add the pistachio paste and stir well to combine.
3. Now put the flour, the baking powder and both sugars in the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer and fit the whisk attachment.
4. Start beating at low speed and add the eggs one at a time. Beat for a few minutes, until you see that all the ingredients are well incorporated and air has been added to the mixture.
5. Without stopping the mixer, gradually incorporate the mixture of butter and pistachio paste. Continue beating until fully integrated.
6. When ready, cover the dough directly with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out. Refrigerate and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
7. Grease the De Buyer madeleine mold with butter and sprinkle a little flour over it.
8. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and put it into a piping bag or into the Le Tube pastry gun by Buyer. Distribute the dough into the mold cavities, filling up to 3/4 of their capacity.
9. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios on top and place the mold in the refrigerator so the dough cools a bit more.
10. Preheat the oven to 210 °C and when it has reached temperature and is hot, put the madeleine mold in and immediately lower the temperature to 170ºC.
11. Bake for about 6-7 minutes, until you see the edges browning and the cupcakes taking their characteristic shape.
12. Remove the mold from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes on a rack before unmolding the madeleines.

Finishing and assembling the madeleine Christmas tree

1. Melt the white chocolate in the De Buyer double boiler.
2. Dip the tip of the madeleines, one by one, into the melted chocolate and place them on a rack or on a sheet of baking paper until the chocolate hardens.
3. Skewer the madeleines with wooden toothpicks into a polystyrene cone, so that the cone is covered by the madeleines.
4. To finish, before taking it to the table, dust the madeleine fir with powdered sugar. Happy holidays!