Brownies Cakes

Financiers

On January 26th we gathered together on Instagram Live to bake Financiers, a seriously delicious almond cake. Their name comes from where the dessert originated: in the financial district in Paris. They were specifically developed as a more compact cake that businessmen could stick in their suit pockets as a little treat for later and eat without worrying about crumbs. And the original shape… a rectangle like a gold bar.

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Financiers

On the Live we talked about how to brown butter, the proper way to crack and separate eggs, how to customize this dessert with the seasons, what fruit to use with this dessert, the best way to hold a whisk, and indications to tell when this, and really any dessert is baked.

A lot of the people that joined were tuning in early in the morning which meant a perfect breakfast! We’ll be doing another one in February so keep an eye out for the date on Instagram or by signing up for the newsletter.

THE RECIPE FOR THE TIGRÈ VERSION:

On the live, I talked about a variation of the financier which is called a tigrè or tiger. Shaved chocolate is mixed into the financier batter to simulate stripes and then it’s piped into a special mold: a sphere with an indentation in the middle like a donut, almost. Once baked, the indentation in the middle is filled with chocolate ganache. SO good.

For the ganache, I heated 50g (1/4 cup) of heavy cream and mixed it with 50g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) of bittersweet chocolate. Then I spooned it into the divit in the center once the financiers were baked and cooled.

You could simulate this without the mold by dipping your financiers into the ganache. This means your ganache can’t sit around too long or it will be to hard to glaze the top. So bake your financier, let them cool, and then make the ganache.

Financiers: Jan 2020 Surprise Bake Along

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Ingredients

120 g (2/3 cup) granulated/caster sugar
40 g (1/3 cup) all purpose (regular) flour
60 g (1/2 cup) almond flour or meal
3 egg whites
100 g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Spices to your fancy (cardamom, cinnamon, ginger…) optional
Fruit, frozen or fresh, raspberries, blueberries, apples, not overly ripe peaches, nectarines, figs or pears. optional

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425F/220C. Brown your butter in a small saucepan and set it aside.
In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients (yes it’s as simple as that!), then pour in the brown butter and slowly whisk it in.
For your spices, this is where you can customize – add what you like according to your fruit (if you’re adding it), and how much you like (a tbsp is too much ;-)).
For your fruit, don’t using something with a high water content (think juicy pears or peaches) or your cake won’t cook. Instead use something that’s a little underripe or berries. Slice thin pieces of fruit to put on top, or place whole raspberries or other berries. No need to defrost if you’re using frozen.
After you put the financiers in the oven, lower the temp to 350F/170C and bake until done! This will depend on your mold but between 10-20 mins (or more!). Look for golden brown, pulling away from the side and springing back.