Category Archives: Financiers

I tell you, the more time I spend making these sorts of ultra-simple preparations the more I wonder if I’ll ever truly enjoy fancy pastry again. I took these to a get-together last evening and had a ball watching people react to them. The pattern was the same with everyone: they picked one up off the buffet table, took a bite, chewed for a moment, then stopped, held it up and stared incredulously. What the heck ARE these things???

These offer quite a bit of bang for very little buck, as it were. They’re best with fruit on the side and downright decadent with ice cream. It goes without saying they’re fabulous with coffee. Start yours by greasing your form. Even if you use a silicone mat like this 1″ x 3″ financier mold, you’ll want to butter it anyway for maximum crispness on the edges.

In a large bowl combine your powdered sugar, flours and almond meal/flour. The almond meal can be store bought (Whole Foods carries some by made Bob’s Red Mill) or made at home. Just lightly toast about 5 ounces of slivered almonds in a 375 F oven for about ten minutes then grind them in a food processor.

Whisk it all together, then add the egg whites.

Whisk those in, then start drizzling in your hot browned butter.

You can add the blackened solids if you’d like…some people consider them essential, but I don’t. I leave them out.

Lastly whisk in a little almond extract. Wanna use a little lemon zest instead (or in addition)? Knock yourself out!

Spoon the batter into the forms, filling them a little more than half way.

Bake 7 minutes at 425, then 7 at 375, then 7 with the oven off. For smaller financiers bake at 450 for 5, then 400 for 5 then 5 with the oven off. They should look about like so.

I got some fairly large bubble holes on top with the first batch. Subsequent batches had smaller bubbles, which made me think that resting the batter might be a good idea. Then I noticed the third batch had dimples in them. You can see some of them here:

I’m not completely sure what that means. However next time I think I’ll rest the batter maybe 20 minutes to let some of the bubbles rise out, then try to bake them all at once using more molds. They were all positively delicious though, no matter what they looked like. I can see why good bakers spend so much time perfecting these. If I get much better results than this I may have to quit the blog altogether and devote myself to financiers on a full-time basis.

Financiers are a terrific way to use up leftover egg whites. These days it’s popular to use silicone molds for financiers, and indeed that is probably the most convenient and least expensive way to go. Should you decide to use silicone, however, make sure to butter the form nonetheless as the extra butter will create the much-desired crispy outer crust. If you don’t want to use tart or financier molds, you can make them in muffin tins, just be sure to only put in about half an inch of batter. You’ll need:

8.75 ounces (1 2/3 cups) powdered sugar
1 ounce (4 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
1 ounce (4 tablespoons) cake flour
4.75 ounces (1 cup) ground almonds or almond flour
5 egg whites
6 ounces butter (12 tablespoons), browned
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Have your ingredients measured and ready before you clarify your butter (you want it hot when it goes into the mixture). And did I also mention that you want your forms buttered and ready? Do that as well. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now then, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, flours and almond flour. Stir in the egg whites, then the hot butter and vanilla. Fill the forms half way with the batter (you can spoon it in or pipe it if you prefer) and place them on a baking sheet.

Bake the financiers for 7 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 and continue baking another 7 minutes. Lastly, turn off the oven and let them bake another 7 minutes. Remove them from the oven and turn them out onto a piece of parchment paper placed on a rack. Serve warm or cooled. Makes about 25 1″ x 3″ financiers or 50 very small cookie-style versions.