French Financiers

French petit fours are a sight to behold when served for the Afternoon Tea. Among them is this rectangular tea cake which has the most peculiar name, “Financiers”! So why is this cake called a financier ,when by no means is it associated with finance?

The Financier wasn’t its name when it was first made in a French convent during the 17th century. It was called Visitandines,maybe the name of the congregation of the nuns of that convent, its unknown. Later a French pastry chef Lasne found an opportunity for these cakes. He made them into small golden rectangular bars, resembling a gold bar. He named them “Financiers” ,and sold them to the investors at the stock exchange.

The depth of the flavour for this tea cake comes from the “beurre noisette” or hazelnut butter ,which is plainly browned butter. When you brown the butter it renders a very nutty flavour and that brown butter imparts a very toasted,nutty flavour to this tea cake. A financier tastes best if consumed on the same day its baked as the texture of it changes when you keep it for long.

I used a Financier silicon mould I bought from Amazon. You can use a basic muffin mould to make them too.

French Financiers

Lejna

A beautiful French tea cake, crispy and brown outside while a soft and airy inside. The warm and nutty flavour pairs well with your afternoon tea.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Resting Time 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 50 mins

Course Tea Cake

Cuisine French

Servings 12 Cakes

Equipment

• Financier mould or Muffin mould

Ingredients

  

• 9 tbsp Butter
• 1¼ cup Powdered sugar
• ¾ cup Almond flour
• ¼ cup All purpose flour
• 1 tbsp Cake flour Optional
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 4 nos Egg whites
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Butter the financier or muffin mould thoroughly and refrigerate.
• Place butter in a saucepan and let it melt. Continue cooking until the butter becomes golden brown. The butter is ready when lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Take a bowl and sift the almond flour into it. Sift sugar over the almond flour.Add both flours, salt and baking powder, and gently whisk to combine. Add egg whites one at a time, whisking just to combine. Do not overwork or the cakes will be tough.
• Add vanilla to the browned butter. Then in a steady stream, whisk the butter into the flour mixture. Gently fold ,do not over mix. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag and refrigerate for 3 hours
• Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Set mould on a baking sheet. Pipe mixtureinto the moulds, filling halfway. You may place an almond on top, I did it justfor aesthetics. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until browned and springy. Removefrom oven, and cool 2 minutes before unmolding. Cool completely on rack. Serveplain or dusted with powdered sugar.

Keyword Afternoon Tea, Financier, Financiers, French, French Pastry, French Tea Cake, High Tea, Patisserie, Petit Fours, Tea Cake