Exquisite Almond Financiers Recipe

Basically, the financier looks like a pound cake where flour is replaced with almond powder and whole eggs with egg whites. However, this is not enough to make it exceptionally delicious. This recipe is very simple to make, but the process must be followed precisely. There is a reason for the choice of each weight of ingredients, each skill and method of operation. This way, the financiers become tasty, melt-in-the-mouth mini-cakes of superior quality. It is easy to enrich them with a variety of flavours.

You thought you knew this familiar recipe and its typical taste? Rediscover this great classic as if it were the first time. I have developed this personal recipe with a lot of diligence and many tries until I was completely satisfied. Guaranteed success among gourmets. Everything is detailed so that you succeed on the first try.

• 100 g egg whites (30 to 35 g of whites per egg, i.e., 3 eggs),
• 75 g powdered almonds (the ground almond with its skin gives a more pronounced almond flavour, the ground one without the skin is blander),
• 75 g blond cane sugar to be ground into icing sugar (about 45 seconds in a blender/chopper),
• 70 g quality butter with taste,
• 25 g all-purpose wheat flour T65 type,
• 15 g sweet liquid honey with a neutral taste,
• 3 g (3/4 teaspoon) of powdered vanilla or 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of natural liquid vanilla extract or the beans of a small Tahiti-style vanilla bean,
• 1 g fine salt (1 large pinch).

The choice of flavour:

• by tradition, make a hazelnut butter for a hazelnut taste (ideally, make half hazelnut butter and half-melted butter for a more subtle taste): heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, wait until it foams and crackles, as soon as it turns brown and smells like hazelnuts, remove it from the heat and pour it into a small bowl, sieving out the brown particles that need to be removed;
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 ml) of bitter almond;
• double the amount of vanilla;
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons (15 to 20 ml) of orange blossom water or aromatic alcohol (Grand Marnier, Rum, Amaretto, Pear…) or lightly moisten the financiers after cooking;
• 30 ml jelly or pulp of tangy fresh fruits (passion fruit, orange, apricot, peach…) to be mixed into the dough, or insert firm or jelly pieces in or on the cakes before baking;
• fresh or frozen cherries, black or red berry fruits (raspberry, blueberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant, blackberry…) to be pushed at the top of the dough in the mould;
• replace part of the almond powder (keep 50 g) with pistachios, hazelnuts or coconut powder (25 g);
• chocolate, 25 to 40 g of cocoa powder (instead of flour), or chop 70 g of 70% dark chocolate, add 3 tablespoons of water, melt it in a bain-marie and add it to the dough at the flavour step and remove 35 g of icing sugar from the dough.

Course of the recipe:

The egg whites are at room temperature, add the salt and beat them lightly in large bubbles to make them more fluid without stiffening them. If you don't make hazelnut butter, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave on medium power and allow it to cool down. If needed to awaken the taste, place the almond powder on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 150°, stirring occasionally. Remove as soon as it begins to turn golden (roasting it for a few more minutes will give it a hazelnut flavour). In a large bowl, mix the icing sugar, almond and flour. Pour in the egg whites and honey and whisk gently for about 30 seconds to avoid incorporating air. Do the same with the vanilla and the flavour, then with the melted butter just to incorporate it gently. To prevent solid flavours from sinking, refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours. It will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator in a closed container.

Use a financier's pan over 1.2 cm high or a mini cake or muffin pan. If necessary, butter and flour the pan. Pour 1 tablespoon of dough (15 ml of dough) into each imprint. Transfer them to the oven at 170° for 15 minutes (± 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness and shape; about 8 minutes for mini-cakes) to obtain a light blond crust and a very soft, barely cooked interior. Place a pin in the centre of the cake, if it comes out with a few crumbs, it is cooked, if it comes out dry, it is overcooked. Remove them out of the mould immediately, they are fragile, and let them cool on a rack.

They can be kept for 1 month in the freezer in a closed bag to stay fresh or up to 3 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator in an airtight box with a paper at the bottom.

After thawing or taking them out of the refrigerator, leave them at room temperature for at least one hour. To enjoy their taste and texture, always eat them at room temperature around 20°.