"Noisette" means hazelnut in French. Noisette butter is made by melting butter, then boiling and raising it to a high temperature until it takes on both a light brown hazelnut colour and also a characteristic nutty smell.
Compared with simple clarified butter, this noisette butter has a delicate yet distinctive flavour which is a welcome addition to both savoury and sweet recipes (particularly in cakes and pastries).
Cut 125 g butter into pieces, put into a saucepan on medium heat and melt.
Note: Cutting the butter into pieces for this stage, rather than starting with a large block, allows it to melt and raise its temperature more evenly.
Stage 2
After a while, the butter will start to boil. This is because of the water it contains.
Stage 3
Continue cooking. The boiling will be vigorous at first...
Stage 4
...then it will gradually calm down.
Stage 5
Be careful, as the butter is now extremely hot, approaching 284°F (140°C).
Stage 6 - ⌛ 10 min.
At the end of the cooking process, the butter will have stopped bubbling, or almost, and will now be a light brown colour and give off a hazelnut smell.
Stage 7
Take the pan off the heat and stand it immediately in cold water for 30 seconds to stop the cooking.
Note: It is very important to cool the butter like this, or it will continue to heat up, even off the hob, and will end up burning and turning black.
Stage 8
The hazelnut butter thus obtained, and this is normal, contains small impurities, the buttermilk, which has cooked with it and is best removed.
Stage 9
Filter the noisette butter through a fine strainer.
Stage 10
Your noisette butter is now ready for use, or it can be kept easily in the fridge for several days.
Remarks
You can avoid cooling the pan in stage 7 by filtering the noisette butter immediately into another (cold) container.
You can also use slightly salted butter, but do be aware that the cooking to noisette stage will concentrate the initial saltiness.
You will have noticed how hot the butter gets towards the end of cooking — a bit like making caramel — so I advise you not to make it when there are young children in the kitchen.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a sealed container.
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