A madeleine is a butter cake with a shell shape, which means the butter is not a background ingredient. Swap in Bordier's chocolate and cacao nib butter and the whole batter changes: darker crumb, a bitter edge against the sugar, and cacao nibs that stay crunchy through a five minute bake. Maison Bordier's version makes 28 minis. Fifteen minutes of mixing, a rest in the fridge, and they are out of the oven before the kettle boils.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: Makes 28 mini madeleines
- Active time: 15 minutes, plus at least 30 minutes resting
- Cook: 5 minutes at 200°C (400°F)
- Key ingredient: 100 g (3.5 oz) Chocolate and Cacao Nib Bordier Butter
Why this works
Bordier's chocolate and cacao nib butter is a seasonal flavour from 2024: 68% Ghanaian cocoa folded into hand churned Breton butter, with roasted cacao nibs left whole. In a batter this small the butter is close to a third of the total weight, so its character carries straight through. Cocoa dries the crumb slightly and cuts the sweetness, and the nibs give you something to bite against a cake that is otherwise very soft.
The fridge rest is the step people skip and should not. Chilling firms the butter through the batter and lets the flour hydrate. When cold batter meets a 200°C oven, the outside sets while the inside is still expanding, and that pressure is what pushes up the hump on the back of a madeleine. Warm batter spreads instead, and you get flat shells that taste fine but look like nothing in particular.
Ingredients
Makes 28 mini madeleines. A French sachet of baking powder is 11 g, so half a sachet is roughly 5.5 g.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 4.4 oz, about 1 cup |
| Bordier Chocolate and Cacao Nib Butter | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about 7 tbsp |
| Sugar | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about 1/2 cup |
| Baking powder | 1/2 sachet (about 5.5 g) | about 1 1/2 tsp |
| Large eggs | 2 | 2 |
Method
Step 1: Mix the batter
Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and soften the butter. Beat the eggs with the sugar, then add the flour, the baking powder and the softened butter a little at a time.
Step 2: Rest and bake
Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Spoon it into madeleine moulds and bake for 5 minutes at 200°C (400°F).
Tips from our kitchen
- Soften, do not melt. The butter should give under a finger but hold its shape. Melted butter will not hold air in the batter, and the madeleines bake dense and greasy at the edges.
- Rest longer if you can. Thirty minutes is the minimum. A few hours, or overnight, gives a better hump and a finer crumb. Cover the bowl so the surface does not dry out.
- Fill the moulds three quarters full, no more. Madeleine batter climbs. Overfilled shells spill over the rim and lose their scalloped edge, and they stick to the pan where the batter escaped.
- Five minutes means five minutes for minis. Full-size madeleines need longer, but these are small and the cocoa in the butter hides browning, so watch the raised centre instead: it should spring back when touched. Set a timer and start checking at four.
- Butter and flour a metal pan even if it is nonstick. Cacao nibs and sugar catch in the ridges of the shell, and a greased and floured mould is the difference between turning them out whole and picking them out in pieces.
- Eat them warm. Madeleines are at their best within an hour of baking. They stale quickly because there is nothing in the batter to hold moisture, so bake in two rounds rather than baking everything at once.
How to serve it
Warm, plain, alongside strong coffee or a pot of tea, which is how they are eaten in France. They also work as the sweet end of a cheese course, since the cocoa handles a mature Comte better than a plain butter cake would. If you have butter left over from the block, the same flavour goes onto warm enriched bread beautifully, and our Madagascar vanilla butter brioche is the obvious next project.
Where to buy Chocolate and Cacao Nib Bordier Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Seasonal Chocolate and Cacao Nib Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): hand churned butter with 68% Ghanaian cocoa and whole roasted cacao nibs.
It is a seasonal flavour, so if the batch has sold through, browse the Maison Bordier collection for the rest of the range.
Frequently asked questions
How much butter do I need to buy?
The batter takes 100 g, which is 3.5 oz. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz (125 g), so a single block makes one full batch of 28 with a little to spare.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
Yes. The Madagascar vanilla butter makes a classic madeleine, and the salted butter gives you the caramel and hazelnut character that comes with the summer churn.
Can I bake full-size madeleines instead?
You can, but this recipe is written for mini moulds and 5 minutes. Standard moulds hold roughly three times as much batter and need longer, so bake by eye and expect fewer than 28.
Do I need a madeleine pan?
For the shape, yes. The batter itself will bake in a mini muffin tin, but you lose the ridged shell and the crisp edge that comes with it.
How should I store the butter?
Keep it wrapped in the coldest part of your refrigerator and use it by the date on the pack. Tightly wrapped, it freezes for a few months.
Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand churned product and ships cold. Refrigerate it as soon as it arrives.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Paysan Breton: The Breton Butter Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.