Financiers

I've had leftover egg whites sitting in my fridge for a few weeks now and I finally got fed up looking at them and decided to make something.  But what?  Macarons would be the obvious choice but I was too lazy to deal with the lengthy process of making and piping the batter, the drying time and then filling the cookies.  I was after something quick, easy and delicious - cue the Financiers!

These little French almond cakes have a delicious nutty bite and texture and go perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea.  I used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that was super easy to come together in one bowl.  The only "tedious" thing was to make the brown butter and that took no time at all. 

Normally the cakes are baked in rectangular molds so that they resemble gold bars, which is where the "financier" name comes from but not everyone has those specialty molds.  I like this version that uses a mini muffin pan.   The financiers were delicious plain but I jazzed mine up by topping them with fresh raspberries, blueberries and chocolate chunks. 

NOTE: You can make this gluten-free by replacing the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour.

Brown Butter, Pistachio and Poppy Seed Financiers

Blogger La Tartine Gourmande, aka Béa Peltre, recently appeared on The Martha Stewart Show to make these financiers.  If you haven't seen her blog yet I highly recommend it; the pictures alone are  absolutely divine.

Lately I'm finding myself more and more drawn to simple, easy and delicious recipes and this one fits the bill.   No stand-mixer required; essentially just a mixing bowl and whisk.   Since pistachios are one of my favorite nuts these little cakes were definitely calling my name.  Add to it poppy seeds and brown butter and it's a done deal.  

I tweaked Béa's recipe just slightly and the financiers turned out delicious.  I skipped the cardamom pods (just didn't have any) and since my pistachios were more brown than green, a teeny tiny drop of food color.  My financiers were baked in this mini bundt pan, a great purchase I found at Home Goods, because I thought the shape would be perfect for these little cakes.

Raspberry-Almond Financiers

Financiers are little French cakes traditionally baked in rectangular molds to resemble gold bars.  You'd think that since my day job is in corporate finance I would have been motivated to make them before, but I never did.  That all changed when I finally bought a financier mold.  Had I known what I was missing it wouldn't have taken me so long.

These financiers are really, really good; I ate two of them minutes after they came out of the oven.  What sets them apart is the beurre noisette (a fancy name for brown butter) that's used in the batter.  I also made them gluten-free by substituting C4C flour in place of all-purpose flour - I swear you can't even tell the difference.  

Before they went in the oven I sprinkled a few fresh raspberries and sliced blanched almonds on top; such a delicious flavor combination.  The burst of tart, juicy fruit and toasted nuts were fantastic in the moist, buttery cake.