Financiers Classiques aux Amandes
Financiers Classiques aux Amandes·(fee-nahn-syay klah-seek ohz ah-mahnd)
Le Goûter: The Sacred French 4 PM Transition
If there’s a pastry that captures the pragmatic, unpretentious soul of the French home kitchen, it’s the humble financier. Invented by resourceful nuns and perfected for 19th-century Parisian stockbrokers who didn't want powdered sugar on their tailored suits, these little cakes are a weeknight godsend. You don't need fancy molds or a stand mixer—just almond flour, a standard American mini-muffin tin, and beurre noisette. That deeply toasted brown butter is the undeniable secret to achieving an impossibly comforting, fudgy center and crisp, golden edge.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter10 tbsp
- powdered sugar1 1/4 cup
- blanched almond flour1 cup
- all-purpose flour1/3 cup
- fine sea salt1/4 tsp
- egg whites4 large
- vanilla extract1/2 tsp
- bitter almond extract1 drop
Method
- 01
Brown the butter in a saucepan to create the beurre noisette.
Place the butter in a small, light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally until it foams, quiets down, and smells intensely of toasted hazelnuts (about 4 to 6 minutes), then immediately pour into a heatproof bowl to cool.
- 02
Whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly.
In a large mixing bowl, vigorously whisk the powdered sugar, almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt until entirely free of lumps.
- 03
Froth the egg whites without whipping air into them.
In a separate bowl, use a fork to break up the egg whites for about 15 seconds just until frothy—do not whip them into peaks, or your cakes will puff up and dry out instead of staying dense and fudgy.
- 04
Fold the wet ingredients into the dry mixture.
Pour the frothy whites into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, then gently fold in the vanilla extract, bitter almond extract, and the slightly cooled brown butter until you have a smooth, shiny batter.
- 05
Bake the financiers in a greased mini-muffin tin.
Preheat the oven to 400°F, generously grease a 24-cup mini-muffin tin, fill each cup three-quarters full, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are a dark, caramelized golden brown.
- 06
Cool briefly and serve warm.
Let the cakes sit in the pan for 5 minutes before popping them out onto a wire rack to be eaten gloriously warm with a strong cup of coffee.
Notes
Rest the batter for a superior texture.
While you can absolutely bake these immediately, covering the bowl and resting the batter in the fridge for at least one hour hydrates the almond flour, dramatically improving the texture and flavor development.
Grease the pan with the leftover brown butter dregs.
For an extra punch of toasted flavor, use a pastry brush and the un-strained, leftover dregs of the brown butter from the bottom of your saucepan to grease the mini-muffin molds.
The bitter almond extract is optional but deeply authentic.
A single drop of bitter almond extract flawlessly replicates the slight bitterness of the European almonds originally used by the Visitandine nuns who invented this pastry.
From Cook French in America.