Pandan Coconut Madeleines
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These Pandan Coconut Madeleines are delicious bite-sized light sponge cakes infused with pandan, brushed with glaze, and dipped in desiccated coconut. They are the perfect teatime treat.
I love madeleines. They look fancy and refined but they are actually very easy to make. Once you have mastered the original Vanilla Madeleines, you can add extra flavoring and coating to experiment with the flavors. Check also my Chocolate Madeleines, Lemon Madeleines, Lemon Poppy Seed Madeleines, and Pistachio Madeleines With White Chocolate Shell recipe.
For this recipe, I added pandan paste or extract to my madeleine batter. The flavor, fragrance, and color of the madeleines come from the paste. Of course, pandan madeleines taste delicious as they are. To make these madeleines more extra and flavorful, I brushed the shells with a glaze and dipped them in desiccated coconut.
These Pandan Coconut Madeleines have a delicate spongy texture with a crisp edge and soft melt-in-your-mouth crumb throughout. The sweetness of pandan complements very well with the nuttiness of the coconut. I hope you will love as much as I do.
What Is Pandan?
Pandan, known as the ‘vanilla of the East’, is a staple herb in Southeast Asian cuisines. Pandan leaf is also known as screwpine leaf. The leaves can be used to infuse their fragrance to foods or as a natural green coloring in desserts. It is used in a variety of savory and sweet dishes.
Pandan is not eaten straight, but rather used to flavor or impart aromatic fragrance to foods. Whole pandan leaves can be boiled with other ingredients or they are used to wrap foods to impart them with an aromatic note. They are also commonly pulverized to produce pandan extract.
How Does Pandan Taste Like?
It is often said that pandan is the vanilla of the East to the Western world. Although it is frequently compared to vanilla, it does not taste like vanilla at all. It is primarily due to it being widely used in cooking throughout Southeast Asia countries. In fact, raw pandan tastes sorta grassy, earthy, and nutty. It is commonly infused with coconut milk to create those delicate notes with a tropical taste.
Ingredients You Need
- Unsalted butter. Using high-quality butter in madeleines is simply essential, even more so as the butter is what brings the flavor to them. For the best result, use European-style butter which has less water, higher fat content, and richer flavor. It will really make a difference here.
- Eggs. Make sure you use room-temperature eggs because they blend more evenly in batters.
- Castor sugar. You can also replace it with granulated sugar. I used castor sugar because it blends more easily than granulated sugar.
- Cake flour. Cake flour is ideal for baked goods with a tender texture due to its low gluten content. You can also use all-purpose flour to substitute cake flour.
- Baking powder. It is an ingredient responsible for forming the madeleine’s hump.
- Pandan paste. Pandan paste or extract to flavor the madeleines and add a bright green color.
- Confectioners’ sugar. Mix confectioners’ sugar and water to make the glaze. Brush the glaze on the shell sides of the madeleines and immediately dip the glazed sides in desiccated coconut so that the coconut sticks well with the madeleines.
- Desiccated coconut. Desiccated coconut is the grated and dehydrated coconut meat. You can substitute it with freshly grated coconut if you want to, but make sure to consume it quickly because freshly grated coconut only last about 1-2 days at room temperature.
Natural vs Artificial Pandan Extract
To make the natural pandan extract, fresh or frozen pandan leaves are blended with water and the liquid is strained. Leave the pandan juice overnight. It will naturally separate if left undisturbed. Remove the watery liquid at the top to leave behind the extract.
Can you use natural pandan extract for this recipe? I don’t recommend it because natural pandan extract is diluted and tastes more subtle. You will not want to add too much liquid in this madeleine recipe or the batter will thin out and not rise properly.
Use artificial pandan taste which has a more concentrated pandan flavor and green color. Therefore, you can infuse the pandan flavor into the batter without adding too much liquid.
Choosing Madeleines Pan
You absolutely need one or two madeleines pans to make the signature scallop shape of the madeleines. You can find different madeleine molds made from metal or silicone. Metal pans are great for their excellent heat transfer. In addition, choose a non-stick pan so that the madeleines can release easily from the pan.
Baking Tips
- Temperature matters. Make sure you use room temperature eggs and slightly warm melted butter as written in the recipe.
- Rest the dough. The batter must be refrigerated for at least 1 hour or overnight. The purpose of this is to chill the batter which also thickens it. This is what creates the signature hump on the madeleines – the shock of the heat hitting the cold batter, and the thicker batter which allows the cake to rise faster.
- Don’t overfill the molds. You should fill them about 80-90% full for the best result.
- Keep an eye on them as they bake. Madeleines are quick to bake. You only need 10-12 minutes to have them risen and golden brown.
More Pandan Recipes
- Pandan Gula Melaka Butter Cookies
- Putu Ayu (Steamed Pandan Coconut Cake)
- Klepon (Pandan Glutinous Rice Balls with Palm Sugar Filling)
- Iced Cendol Dawet (Pandan Jellies with Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar Syrup)
- Pandan Coconut Ice Cream
Ingredients
Pandan Madeleines
- 7 tbsp (100 gr) unsalted butter, melted, at 40-50°C
- 2 (100 gr) eggs
- 7 tbsp (90 gr) castor sugar
- 13 tbsp (100 gr) cake flour
- 1 tsp (4 gr) baking powder
- Pandan paste or extract
Coconut toppings
- 7 tbsp (55 gr) confectioners' sugar
- 2-3 tsp water
- Desiccated coconut
Instructions
Pandan Madeleines
- In a large bowl, add eggs and castor sugar. Using a whisk, mix them lightly for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.
- Sift in cake flour and baking powder. Whisk until well combined.
- Add melted butter and a little bit of pandan paste. Whisk until well incorporated. Check the color of the batter and add more pandan paste until you get the desired green color.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400F/200°C. Grease a non-stick madeleine pan with butter. If you are not using a non-stick pan, grease the pan with butter and dust the wells with flour lightly.
- Remove the batter from the fridge. Using a spatula, mix to loosen the batter and remove the air bubbles.
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag and pipe the batter into the molds until 80-90% full. You can also alternatively spoon the batter into the molds.
- Place the filled madeleine pan into the preheated oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 350F/180°C. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they have risen and the edges are golden brown
- Remove madeleines from the pan immediately. Cool them completely before glazing them.
Coconut Toppings
- Place the desiccated coconut in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift confectioners' sugar. Add water and mix until a thick white paste forms. You can adjust the consistency by adding more water to make the glaze thinner or confectioners' sugar to make it thicker.
- Brush the shell side of the madeleines with the glaze. Dip the glazed shell side in the desiccated coconut.
- Place the madeleines with the shell side up to set the glaze.
Delicious!