These petite pastries won’t break the bank
Financiers are petite French, cake-like pastries that are light, moist and not overly sweet. The lovely flavor is derived from the addition of brown butter and almond flour. Adding a final flourish of a halved fresh blackberry makes them even more tempting — or use a slice of kumquat or a few toasted sliced almonds to adorn each one to perfection.
To make almond flour, finely grind slivered or sliced almonds in a food processor.
Financiers with Blackberries, Kumquats or Sliced Almonds
Makes 18 to 22
Ingredients
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
cup (3 ounces) finely ground almond flour
cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour teaspoon salt cup (3 ounces) egg whites (3 to 4 large eggs)
Blackberries (cut lengthwise), sliced, seeded kumquats or lightly toasted sliced almonds
Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Generously spray 24-cup mini-muffin tin with baking spray.
2. Brown the butter: Set a heatproof bowl next to the stove. Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet on medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and scraping skillet constantly with sili
cone spatula, until milk solids are dark golden brown and butter has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Immediately transfer to heatproof bowl and set aside.
3. In a second bowl, whisk the almond flour, sugar, all-purpose flour and salt together. Add egg whites. Using rubber or silicone spatula, stir until combined, mashing lumps against side of bowl until mixture is smooth. Stir in butter until incorporated. Distribute batter evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling them about half full. Place desired topping on batter; do not push top
ping down into batter — allow it to rest on top.
4. Bake until edges are well browned and tops are golden, about 14 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Remove tin from oven and place a wire cooling rack on top. Invert rack and tin; carefully remove tin. Turn cakes right side up and let cool 20 minutes before serving.
They are delicious warm or at room temperature.