My highlight of this week was the discovery of financiers.
Financiers are little French cakes (traditionally in a rectangular shape). They have some similarities to a sponge cake but they are so much better than that and they are in my book a sweet delicacy that everyone must have tried in their life.
I cannot believe and I cannot understand why I have never heard of financiers before in my life or never took notice of these little cakes during my visits to France. Maybe it is because financiers do not look fancy but this is a wrong conclusion. I missed out so much in my life and I have to make up for it. I hereby declare the month of March to my official financiers month. I will make financiers in all different kinds of variations: from plain financiers to pear financiers creation.
The only thing that I am worrying about is that my fridge might suffer from an egg yolk coma since you need a lot of egg whites. My fridge usually suffers from a egg white coma (this is why I made this recipe in the first place) – you can read my post here – but this might change to the opposite in the month of March.
In the following I share a recipe that is adapted from the book “Sweet Paris” by Michael Paul who is an Australian. The author shares the Australian or New Zealand version of financiers or friandes how they are called in Australia which are filled with fruits.
By the way, this book is a wonderful book with beautiful photos of pastries and boulangeries and pâtisseries of Paris. Browsing through this book is such a pleasure and a source of inspiration.
Makes 10 to 12 financiers

INGREDIENTS

  • 190 g unsalted butter
  • 150 g fresh raspberries
  • 200 powdered sugar
  • 65 g pastry flour
  • 135 g almond flour
  • 6 egg whites

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  • Grease and flour financiers or muffin molds.
  • Lightly crush half of the raspberries and set aside.
  • Heat the butter on medium heat until the butter turns a golden brown color and develops a nutty flavor (beurre noisette). Let the butter cool.
  • In the meantime sift confectioner’s sugar, flour and almond flour into a bowl and mix well.
  • Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until they form light foam. Make a well in the flour mixture and tip in the egg whites. Add the crushed raspberries and then the melted butter and mix until everything is well combined.
  • Pour the batter into the molds. Scatter with the remaining raspberries.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until they have a golden color (my financiers took a little bit longer).
  • Let the financier cool. Remove from the molds and dust with confectioner’s sugar or with some whipped cream.