Sadly, I have only been to France once, and it wasn’t Paris and I was dating a strict vegan who didn’t drink. Sigh. No wine and no cheese and he didn’t eat “white” bread or sweets. Really, what is the point of going to France if you aren’t going to eat the food and drink the wine? The Tour de France is the answer. I must be longing to go since I have only been dragging out my French based cookbooks or being attracted to the French recipes in the non-French cookbooks. First with the madeleines and now with financiers. I had always known them as newlywed cakes and so when I was reading the recipe for them in Just A Bite, and Gand talked about them being a newlywed dessert, I took that as a sign to make them. I love how moist and spongy the cakes are with that wonderful addition of brown butter and almond meal. Traditionally, I would make these with berries but since they are not in season, they are a tad pricey. So I went with satsumas and pears.
I have a feeling that January is going to be French month…I may just make my new year’s resolution to gain 16 pounds quicker than I planned 😛
Brown-Butter Financiers
9 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup almond flour or ground almonds
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/2 cup egg whites
1 tsp applesauce
fruit of your choice
Make the brown butter: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will seperate into melted golden fat and white, grainy milk solids. Keep cooking until the milk solids turn golden brown and the mixture smells like toasted nuts, making beurre noisette. Let the butter cool slightly, then strain it through a fine strainer to remove the toasted milk solids.
Sift the dry ingredients together and transfer to a mixer fitted with a whip attachment. Add the egg whites, applesauce, and strained beurre noisette and mix.
Heat the oven to 375F. Cut your fruit so that it is about the size of a nickel.
Pipe or spoon the batter into the prepared pans(mini muffin pans), filling them three-quarters full. Place a piece of fruit in the center of each cake. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and browned around the edges.
Let cakes cool in the pans, then gently lift them out.
Source: Adapted by 2001 Just a Bite by Gale Gand
Tanna says
Wow, these are just begging me to eat them aren’t they. So beautifully tender and yummy looking. That is a wonderful book, the pages in mine are a bit wrinkled from me drooling on them.
joey says
These look heavenly…as do the madelaines below! I look forward to more French goodies this month 🙂
Ellie says
Absolutely gorgeous! The photos capture perfectly how lovely and fluffy these are 🙂
Jeff says
You totally need to go again!! Best part of France is the yummy wine, bread and cheese!
Julie O'Hara says
No wonder you didn’t end up with that guy! So how newly wed are you? I just got married this past March (19th). I didn’t know there was a newlywed pastry, however. I should try to work them in before our first year is up.
Veron says
This looks so good! I just ordered some savarin molds that works well with financiers.
Sandi @ the WhistleStop Cafe says
A romantic trip to France needs to be on your list of things to do in 2007…but I doubt that you will find financiers any prettier than these.
Lisa says
So cute and yummy looking!
gattina says
oh my gosh, they’re absolutely heavenly! And Gale Gand, I like her!
Ivonne says
They’re so cute … and I can just taste the butter!
Kristen says
And we’ll all gain the 16 pounds right along with you just by looking at your lovely photos. Yummy!
Mary says
I had a pretty good financier at Le Panier while in Seattle. But I guess I should’ve gone to your place instead! They are so pretty with the satsumas.
Patricia Scarpin says
They are so tiny and delicate, cute!
I bet it’s impossible to eat only one unit. 😀
jann says
Hope you got rid of that vegan disaster-what, restrictions in Paris-was he nuts? You better get back there soon……and with a real romantic! Oh, the fanciers, they are perfect!Bonne continuation!
Lauren says
I’ve never had a financier but from the looks of it – I would love to eat one for breakfast this morning.
Anna says
I hope you do go back to France — preferably with someone who drinks wine.
Kirsten says
Hi Peabody! Just catching up on all of your posts and they are all lovely as usual. These look delicious and I love your idea to focus on French cooking.
What a boring guy you went to France with. You must go again. 🙂
Happy New Year!!
Terry B says
Sounds delicious and looks beautiful. And thanks for the straightforward directions for making brown butter–I’ll definitely give this a try. You said you’d normally use berries in your Financiers. What kind of berries do you prefer in them?
Regarding your culinarily ill-fated trip to France, I’m sure your friend was a wonderful person–you don’t travel abroad with just anyone, after all–but vegans are a total bore. Go back with a wine drinking omnivore and you’ll have a much better time. And definitely go to Paris. You will be hard pressed to find a bad meal anywhere.
Deb says
They look beautiful! LOVE to bake but not the sweets person??? My fiance and son are my testers. 😉
Emily says
They look great, Peabody! Bring on the month of French!
Elena says
Lovely, peabody. Love how simple the ingredient is. This is perfect idea for a real quick baking experience for a terrible home cook like me.
Jason says
Looks great! Wish I had a little more time to try to make them.
Cheryl says
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Brian says
Looks amazing!