Level: Easy Total time: 30min
The French financier is my super easy go-to recipe whenever I am left with egg whites from recipes using the yolks only (for example the Norwegian coconut and Custard-filled buns or the salt butter Brittany biscuits). It is an excellent way to use the egg whites and it is also one of my favorite French pastries. The original recipe is a mixture of ground almonds, sugar, egg whites, and butter, but I also like to add a bit of hazelnut in mine. Another delicious option is to replace the hazelnut in this recipe with pistachio powder and a tsp of pistachio paste. You can easily play around with this recipe by adding bits of raspberry, grated lemon, or chocolate bites into the mixture just before baking.
The recipe for French financier was created in the 17th century and was initially called “La Vistandine”, which was the name of the religious order that created it. But this pastry was really made famous by a pastry chef called Lasne at the end of the 19th century. Lasne worked closed to the Paris stock exchange and decided to propose this pastry shaped as gold-bars to seduce his clients. It is today one of the most well-known pastries in France and you will find them in any bakery. You can easily bake these in muffin cups if you do not have the gold-bar-shaped molds. Have a try next time you are left with egg whites, I am sure you will not regret it:-)
THE TIPS TO SUCCEED
1: Make sure you don’t undercook these, they are at their best when dark brown and crispy on the outside while soft and savory on the inside.
2: Vary your options with pistachio, raspberry, chocolate etc to taste.
Let’s get started
Ingredients
- 100/4 g/oz Almond powder
- 30/1,2 g/oz Hazlenut powder
- 50/2 g/oz All-purpose flour
- 120/4,8 g/oz Icing sugar
- 140/5,6 g/oz Egg whites (approx 4 egg whites)
- 130/5,2 g/oz Butter
How to do it?
Set the oven to heat at 200°c/392F.
Melt the butter over medium heat until the butter gets a nutty brown color. Set a side to cool down slightly.
Mix the almond powder, hazelnut, glazing sugar and all-purpose four.
Add the egg whites little by little and mix.
Add the butter and mix.
Smear a thin layer of butter in the molds and sprinkle with flour.
Use two spoons or a piping bag to fill the molds until 3/4 full if you are using financier molds, only half full if you are using standard size muffin molds.
Bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden brown.
How to serve the French financier?
The French financier is perfect with a tea or coffee or as an afternoon snack for the kids.
French financier
Ingredients
- 100/4 g/oz Almond powder
- 30/1,2 g/oz Hazlenut powder
- 50/2 g/oz All-purpose flour
- 120/4,8 g/oz Icing sugar
- 140/5,6 g/oz Egg whites Approx 4 egg whites
- 130/5,2 g/oz Butter
Instructions
- Put the oven to heat at 200°c/392F
- Melt the butter over medium heat until the butter gets a nutty brown color. Set a side to cool down slightly.
- Mix the almond powder, hazelnut, glazing sugar and all-purpose four.
- Add the egg whites little by little and mix.
- Add the butter and mix.
- Smear a thin layer of butter in the molds and sprinkle with flour.
- Use two spoons or a piping bag to fill the molds until 3/4 full if you are using financier molds, only half full if you are using standard size muffin molds.
- Bake for approx 15 minutes or until golden brown.
