Almond Financiers in the Finished Kitchen
After seven months the kitchen remodel is finally
finished. Wahoo, no more cooking
in my parka, boiling water to wash pots or surprising foraging raccoons! I only had two meltdowns. Well ok, three, but they were all justified, at least in my
mind.
For those of you who love before and after photos, here are two I found from when we moved into the house in 1995. We have forever banished the color coral from this house!
Our first meal was total comfort food, grilled cheese
sandwiches on a rainy night, but the oven needed to be baptized, so to
speak. So I chose Financiers, also
sometimes referred to as Friands. These are deeply satisfying little French
cakes. They can be complicated to
make, but I found a much simpler recipe that gives my local bakery a run for
their money. While these
cakes look very pretty made with the scalloped molds they taste just as good
made in muffin/cupcake pans.
Almond Financiers
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, February 2008
makes approximately 10-12
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (Use
a good quality butter)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup almond meal
(can be found at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup
granulated sugar
1/4 cup sifted
confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup sifted
cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brush muffin pan or molds with butter or use parchment cupcake liners.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking
frequently, until golden brown, 6-7 minutes. Add honey and whisk until combined. Remove from heat.
Mix almond meal, sugars, flour,
and salt. With mixer on medium
speed add egg whites, one at a time, beating after each addition until just
combined. Scrape down sides of
bowl. Reduce speed to low, and add
warm butter/honey mixture in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to high, and beat for 45 seconds more.
Spoon batter into muffin cups or molds. Bake until edges are golden
brown, 15-25 minutes. Rotate pan/molds after approximately 10 minutes to brown
evenly. Let cool slightly (about 5
minutes) before unmolding cakes.
Don’t wait too long or cakes will be difficult to remove from
molds. You may need to use the tip of a knife to help release the cakes from the molds. Financiers are best served
warm or the same day they are baked.
These cakes can be kept for up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container
at room temperature.
