I love baking financiers, but I especially love combining these sweet cakes with fruit. Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit have a pronounced tropical flavour, reminiscent of sweet mango, much sweeter than green kiwis. I had a feeling SunGold kiwis would be perfect in a coconut financier, just likes raspberries and blueberries make beautiful berry financiers. This recipe is a tropical twist on a classic French pastry.

What You Need To Make Coconut Kiwi Cakes

The beauty of financiers like these is that you likely have all the ingredients in your pantry for them already! Here's what you need to make these little coconut cakes:

• kiwis—I used golden kiwis, which are sweeter. Look at the skin of the kiwi to tell if it's a golden kiwi, which has a smooth, soft skin unlike the fuzzy skin of a green kiwifruit. To find Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit, check your local supermarket between May and October. I've found them in big boxes at Costco too!
• butter—I love to use nutty brown butter to make all my financiers. If you're new to making it, please read about the process of how to make brown butter.
• sugar—I prefer to make financiers with granulated white sugar for the cleanest taste. This way the coconut and kiwi fruit can really shine in this recipe!
• flour—I bake with regular bleached all-purpose flour but unbleached should also work.
• eggs—financiers are always made with egg whites. Use the leftover yolks to make homemade ice cream
• salt—I always bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount to avoid making these kiwi cakes too salty

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Golden Kiwi Cakes

For this recipe, I used a couple of vintage mini muffin pans that I found at a flea market years ago. The size of the muffin cups is slightly larger than a traditional mini muffin pan. If the finish isn't non-stick, make sure to take the time to prepare the pan before baking: grease and flour 16 of the wells! If you are worried about sticking, you can cut out rounds of parchment paper to fit on the bottom of each muffin cup or even bake these with cupcake liners!

Step 1—Combine the dry ingredients (flour, coconut, sugar) in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S-blade (image 1). Process the ingredients to break down the coconut into a finer texture (image 2). Process it as much or as little as you want to achieve the desired texture.

Step 2—Whip the egg whites until they are thick and frothy (image 3) and then combine them with the dry ingredients, brown butter and vanilla extract (image 4). Stir the mixture with a Danish dough whisk until you have a thick batter (image 5). Cover the bowl to chill the batter before baking (image 6).

Step 3—Portion out the chilled batter into prepared mini muffin pans. I used a ¾ ounce scoop to make the job easier (image 7). Meanwhile, peel and slice the kiwi fruit so you have 16 rounds to garnish your coconut cakes (image 8).

Step 4—Top each coconut cake with a slice of Sungold kiwi (image 9) before baking until golden brown (image 10). You can use a cake tester to check that the middle is baked through.

Baking With Kiwis—Tips and Tricks

To peel kiwi fruit like golden kiwis, you can use a vegetable peeler or a pairing knife to remove the peel all around. Or you can use the method most of us are most familiar with: "cut & scoop" before slicing. While using a peeler to take the skin off a kiwi works, the fruit is rather slippery and difficult to handle, and the surface isn't as smooth as the scooped-out fruit. Definitely opt for the tried-and-true "cut & scoop" method to get the kiwi fruit out of the peel. It's easy, and all you need is a spoon!

You can eat the peel! You can choose to leave the peel on and slice the whole golden kiwi fruit into rounds to garnish these coconut financiers. SunGold kiwis have a thin, smooth, hairless skin that is perfect for this.

Other Recipes for Financiers

If you love these mini coconut tea cakes, you will enjoy these other financiers recipes:

• chocolate financiers
• raspberry financiers
• chestnut financiers (gluten-free)

If you tried this recipe for the best coconut financiers (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Sungold Kiwi Coconut Financiers

Sungold kiwifruit are the perfect pairing with coconut financiers. The cake is sweet, buttery, and light, with a delightful coconut flavour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 16 financiers

Calories 125kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Mini processor
• OXO balloon whisk
• Mini muffin pan

Ingredients

• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 63 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 75 grams sweetened shredded coconut
• 0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 120 grams large egg white(s) 4 large
• 90 grams browned butter browned in a saucepan and left to cool to room temperature
• 2.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 2 Zespri SunGold kiwifruit trimmed, peeled, and sliced into 16 rounds

Metric - US

Instructions

• In small food processor (like this KitchenAid on Amazon), finely grind the sweetened coconut with the granulated sugar, flour, and salt. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until very frothy. Dump the egg whites over the dry ingredients, along with the cooled brown butter, and the vanilla. Fold everything together until you obtain a thick batter.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter and flour 16 cups of a mini muffin pan (like this push pop pan on Amazon (or line the bottom of each cup with a small round of parchment paper or use mini cupcake liners if you are worried the cakes will stick). When the batter has chilled, divide it between the prepared muffin cups. Top each coconut financier with a slice of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit.
• Bake on the middle rack for 20–25 minutes, until the edges are golden and a skewer inserted into a cake comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before unmolding to a wire rack to cool completely

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

This post is sponsored by Zespri Kiwifruit to promote their SunGold kiwi fruit. I was compensated monetarily and in product. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.

The post Coconut Financiers With Sungold Kiwis appeared first on The Bake School.

Financiers are small almond cakes made with brown butter, ground almonds, and egg whites. The combination of ingredients gives them a nutty flavour and crispy edges.

Financiers are easy to make and can be flavoured in many ways, replacing all-purpose flour with an alternative (like in these chestnut financiers) or replacing the ground almonds with a different ground nut (like in these pistachio financiers) or even coconut (in these coconut financiers). You can also top them with fruit before baking, like in these berry financiers.

Before making these chocolate almond financiers, read about how to make beurre noisette (the French pastry term for brown butter) if you've never made it before.

What You Need to Make These...

The beauty of financiers is that they are made from a very simple list of ingredients and you likely have them on hand if you bake fairly often!

• butter—I used unsalted butter, but salted will work fine. You may reduce the salt if you are worried that the cakes will be too salty.
• sugar—traditionally, financiers are made with powdered sugar but I usually use granulated sugar
• flour—bleached all-purpose is what I use, but unbleached will likely work fine
• ground almonds—you can buy ground almonds (also called almond flour) at most bulk stores and grocery stores with the nuts and baking products
• cocoa powder—use Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a rounder flavour
• egg whites—be sure to weigh the egg whites to make sure you have the right amount since the size of eggs can vary. Feel free to use boxed egg whites for this recipe if you prefer!
• salt—I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt which is less salty than table salt. If using regular salt (or even Morton's kosher salt), you may like to use half the suggested amount
• cocoa nibs (optional)—I like to garnish financiers before baking them and for chocolate financiers, cocoa nibs bring a ton of chocolate flavour and a little crunch.

Please see the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions

Variations

Instructions to make Chocolate Financiers

This might be one of the simplest cake recipes to make. The mixing method is a two-bowl method, where the dry ingredients are mixed in one bowl and the egg whites are whipped separately before combining the two.

Step 1: Start by melting the butter in a small saucepan because you will need to give it ample time to cool down later.

Step 2: Brown the butter until it smells nutty and the milk solids have browned and caramelized.

Step 3: Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the sugar, ground almond, flour, and cocoa powder.

Step 4: Use a whisk to make sure there are no lumps. If the mixture is too lumpy, use a sifter to smooth it out.

Step 5: In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and salt.

Step 6: Whip the egg whites until thick and foamy using a balloon whisk.

Step 7: Once the dry ingredients are evenly mixed and pretty much lump-free, you are ready to add the whipped egg whites.

Step 8: Pour the whipped egg whites over the dry ingredients and work the two components together with a whisk.

Step 9: The chocolate almond batter will be quite stiff and thick at this stage.

Step 10: Whisk in the cooled brown butter.

Step 11: The chocolate almond batter will be glossy and thick.

Step 12: Cover the bowl of chocolate financiers batter with plastic wrap and chill it for 1 hour until cold.

Step 13: Use a ¾ ounce disher to divide the batter evenly among the greased cups of a mini muffin pan.

Step 14: You can use the back of a spoon to flatten out the mounds (optional but helpful if garnishing with cocoa nibs).

Step 15: I live to garnish financier cakes with a "little something" before baking to make them extra special. Since these are chocolate cakes, I garnished them with cocoa nibs.

Another great option would be a few mini chocolate chips, or chopped almonds since the batter is made with ground almonds.

Step 16: Chocolate financiers should look quite even before baking.

Step 17: After baking, the financiers have puffed and are set. The batter loses some of its shine as they bake.

Tip: Use a cake tester to check if the cakes are done baking.

Storage

Store chocolate financiers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I actually prefer to freeze them in a freezer bag to keep them fresh for up to 2 months. These cakes are small and defrost quickly when taken out of the bag and placed on a plate at room temperature. It takes about 30 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

Financiers are served with tea and coffee as a treat on their own, as you would cookies. In fact, financiers are often referred to as a cookie in French pastry and taught alongside cookie recipes and madeleines.

Financiers Recipe FAQs

Other Financiers Recipes To Try

Looking for other financier recipes like this? Try these:

If you tried this Chocolate Financiers Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know you like it in the 📝 comments below.

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Chocolate Financiers

Learn how to make chocolate financiers with this easy recipe. These little chocolate cakes are made with ground almonds and brown butter, which create a sweet, nutty chocolate cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 36 minutes minutes

Servings 24 mini cakes

Calories 92kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• Mini muffin pan non-stick
• ¾ oz scoop

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 90 grams ground almonds
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 42 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 32 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
• 115 grams large egg white(s)
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• cacao nibs

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and continue cooking it until it turns light brown in color. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the brown butter to a small bowl to cool down sllightly. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, sugar, flour, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and salt. Whisk them until they are very frothy and foamy.
• Pour the frothy egg whites over the dry ingredients. Whisk vigorously to mix everything together, then add the cooled brown butter and whisk the batter more to completely incorporate it. The batter will be quite stiff.
• Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the batter for at least 1 hour until cold.
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Butter a non-stick 24-cup mini muffin pan.
• Divide the batter among the 24 wells of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the tops of the financiers with cocoa nibs to garnish them.
• Bake the chocolate financiers until the centres are set. This takes about 16 minutes. Use a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of them to verify they are baked through. Let cool slightly before using a mini offset spatula to unmould them.

Notes

Here are a few substitutions and variations you can explore:

• Sugar—instead of granulated sugar, you can try icing sugar or a combination of the two. Brown sugar will also work, but watch for lumps!
• Nut-free—instead of ground almonds, you can try ground sunflower seeds for a nut-free version
• Gluten-free—for a gluten-free version, you can test the recipe with an alternative flour. For example, millet or sorghum flour should work well, but I've also successfully made gluten-free financiers with chestnut flour and even white rice flour! Buckwheat flour would also be a really interesting option here.
• Cocoa—you can try natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed in this recipe, but the flavour and colour of the chocolate tea cakes may differ with a different cocoa powder.
• Salt—This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.4mg

The post Chocolate Financiers appeared first on The Bake School.

You have to try these pistachio financiers. Traditionally, financiers are little nut-based cakes, made with ground almonds, sugar, brown butter, and egg whites, and baked in small rectangular moulds that resemble bars of gold.

They are actually very simple to make, with a short list of ingredients, and the mixing method is pretty forgiving. These cakes are sweet, moist, and slightly chewy, and I bet you can't eat just one. Spoiler alert: I can easily eat 6 in the span of minutes. They are THAT good!

What you need to make pistachio financiers

• pistachios—I bake these with shelled unsalted pistachios from Nuts.com. For the chopped green pistachio garnish, I used some young slivered green pistachios from a store that sells Mediterranean food imports.
• butter—I baked this recipe with unsalted butter and then added my own salt to the batter for these cakes. If you use salted butter, you might want to skip the salt to avoid these pistachio cakes being too salty!
• flour—I used bleached all-purpose flour, but unbleached will also work fine. You can also use alternative flour, like chestnut flour and white rice flour. Even millet or sorghum should work well here.
• sugar—pistachio is a delicate flavour so I baked these with granulated sugar, though brown sugar can work here, but the flavour and colour will overpower the nuts.
• salt—I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty. If you are using table salt, you may halve the amount in the recipe
• egg whites—I bake with large eggs, so each egg white weighs 30 grams (approximately) and it takes about 4 eggs to get to the weight needed (or darn close!). If you bake with smaller eggs, you will need to crack open more eggs to get to the weight of egg whites to make this recipe

See the recipe card for exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Almond—replace the ground pistachio with ground almond or almond flour for the classic almond version. You can also enhance the almond flavour with a few drops of almond extract (remember it's potent: a little goes a long way!)
• Coconut—replace the ground pistachio with the same weight of coconut. You will have to grind it in a food processor to avoid textural issues.
• Egg whites—you can either crack eggs and separate out the whites for this recipe or use boxed pasteurized egg whites, which will work great.
• Gluten-free—I learned from the Tartine Gourmande cookbook that you can make gluten-free financiers, replacing the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour, such as white rice flour. I have tested it, and it works quite well! These chestnut financiers are another example of using an alternative gluten-free flour that works perfectly (in that case, it was chestnut flour).

Improving the Green Colour of Pistachios

If you want to make greener pistachio financiers, try to peel the pistachios first to remove the dark black or brown papery skin that covers the individual nuts. Also make sure to buy greener pistachios, which are picked younger when they are a deep, dark green colour. As pistachios age, the green fades to a golden yellow.

Special Equipment and Pan Prep

Many pastry chefs prefer to bake financiers in silicone pans to guarantee that they don't stick. They brush the moulds with a little softened butter to ensure the little cakes don't stick. Unmoulding from silicone bakeware is easy because silicone is naturally quite non-stick and it's also pliable so that you can easily push the cakes out of the pan.

Financiers can also be baked in any metal muffin pan or mini muffin pan. I bake these in a non-stick mini muffin pan that makes 24 mini financiers. Again, if the non-stick coating is not compromised or dulled, you should be able to get away with simply buttering the wells of the pan, but greasing and flouring will ensure that the cakes don't stick.

Alternatively, you can bake this recipe in a regular cake pan to create one larger cake that you can slice. The batter should fit an 8x8-inch square pan or even a 9-inch round pan.

How to Make French Tea Cakes

Financier cakes might be the easiest cakes you can make. The longest part of the process is chilling the batter before baking.

Most desserts with egg whites would have you make a meringue or whip the egg whites to stiff peak, then fold them into the dry mixture. Whipping the egg whites incorporates air and water, which is why egg whites are considered a leavening agent. But with financiers, all you have to do is whip the whites until they are frothy. It's faster and easier, and you still end up with a spongy, light texture!

Before doing any of the other steps, start by melting the butter in a small saucepan.

Continue cooking the melted butter until the milk solids begin to brown and release a delightful nutty aroma. Once this happens, take the brown butter off the heat and transfer it to a small bowl to cool before using.

While the brown butter is cooling, prepare the other ingredients. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and ground pistachio.

Ensure the dry ingredients are evenly mixed, then set the bowl aside to work on the egg whites.

Combine the egg whites and the salt. The salt will help you break up the globular egg white proteins.

Whip the egg whites until they are very frothy and thick.

Transfer the frothy egg whites to the bowl of whisked dry ingredients.

Whisk the two components together until they are incorporated.

Pour the cooled brown butter over the financiers batter and stir it in.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to chill it for at least one hour until cold and firm.

While the financier batter chills, butter the mini muffin pan with softened butter.

Dust it with flour, tapping out the excess if you are not baking with silicone and/or if you are worried your cakes will stick. Err on the side of caution if you aren't sure!

Divide the financiers batter between the wells of your mini muffin pan. Use a small ¾ ounce disher to make the job easy.

Garnish the pistachio financiers with a little coarsely chopped pistachio to decorate them before baking.

Bake the financiers at 350 °F (175 °C).

Bake them until golden brown and set for about 16 minutes.

Unmould them as soon as they have set and transfer them to a wire rack to avoid any condensation or moisture building up on the edges.

Financiers FAQs

Other Financier Recipes to Try

Financiers are very versatile and are a great canvas for playing with flavours and also for baking with fresh fruit:

• incorporate shredded coconut and golden yellow kiwis to make these kiwi coconut financiers  
• top them with summer berries like blueberries and raspberries to make berry financiers
• make them with chestnut flour, yielding a sweet cake that is the perfect contrast for tart cranberries, like in these gluten-free cranberry chestnut financiers
• incorporate tahini into the batter and kumquats, which are like miniature oranges to make sesame kumquat financiers.

If you tried this recipe for pistachio financiers (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Pistachio Financiers

Learn how to make pistachio financiers with this easy recipe. These little pistachio cakes are made with ground pistachio and brown butter, which create a sweet, nutty tea cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 36 minutes minutes

Servings 24 mini cakes

Calories 248kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Mini processor
• OXO balloon whisk
• Mini muffin pan non-stick

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 90 grams shelled unsalted pistachios ground
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 63 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 115 grams large egg white(s)
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• slivered pistachios

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and continue cooking it until it turns light brown in color. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the brown butter to a small bowl to cool down sllightly. Set aside.
• Using a mini food processor or coffee grinder, grind the pistachios to form pistachio flour.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the ground pistachios, sugar, flour. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and salt. Whisk them until they are very frothy and foamy.
• Pour the frothy egg whites over the dry ingredients. Whisk vigorously to mix everything together, then add the cooled brown butter and whisk the batter more to completely incorporate it.
• Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the batter for at least 1 hour until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C). Butter and flour a 24-cup mini muffin pan.
• Divide the batter among the 24 wells of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the tops of the financiers with chopped slivered pistachios to garnish them.
• Bake the pistachio financiers until the edges are golden brown and the centres are set. This takes about 16 minutes. Use a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of them to verify they are baked through. Let cool slightly before using a mini offset spatula to unmould them.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For a gluten-free option, replace the all-purpose flour with white rice flour or even millet or sorghum flour. I've also tested chestnut flour with great success! 
• For greener pistachio financiers, you may peel the skins off of the pistachio nuts before grinding them to make these. Some people may also add a few drops of food colouring to the batter. I find this makes the cakes look fake.
• Store these in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, freeze them. Defrost overnight in the fridge or on the counter for an hour before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 248kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 342IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Pistachio Financiers appeared first on The Bake School.

Financiers are little almond cakes made with egg whites. They have a sweet, nutty flavour from ground almonds and brown butter. Traditionally, they are baked in small, rectangular moulds and they get their name because their shape is reminiscent of bars of gold and money.

I developed this basic almond financiers recipe with the hope that it could be used as a jumping-off point to get creative. They are great plain, but also can be garnished with berries or a small piece of fruit before baking. In this case, I've tested topping them fresh raspberries and fresh blueberries, but I've also made cranberry financiers and even coconut financiers topped with slices of kiwi! Financiers taste great topped with a small piece of fruit or berries before baking.

Ingredients for Classic Almond Financiers

For this recipe, you will make classic almond financiers and top them with fresh raspberries before baking. To do so, you will need basic ingredients you likely have on hand in your pantry and fridge if you bake semi-regularly. Here's what you need to make them!

• butter—I baked this recipe with unsalted butter and then added my own salt to the batter for these cakes. If you use salted butter, you might want to skip the salt to avoid these almond cakes being too salty!
• sugar—almond is a delicate flavour so I baked these with granulated sugar, though brown sugar can work here, but the flavour and colour will overpower the nuts
• ground almond or almond flour—I used blanched almond flour (so the skin of the almonds is removed prior to grinding them into flour)
• flour—I used bleached all-purpose flour, but unbleached will also work fine. You can also use alternative flour, like chestnut flour and white rice flour. Even millet or sorghum should work well here
• egg whites—I bake with large eggs, so each egg white weighs 30 grams (approximately) and it takes about 4 eggs to get to the weight needed (or darn close!). If you bake with smaller eggs, you will need to crack open more eggs to get to the weight of egg whites to make this recipe
• salt. I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty. If you are using table salt, you may halve the amount in the recipe
• berry garnish (optional)—I prefer fresh raspberries, but blueberries also work great. You can also skip the garnish and bake them without a garnish or topping, as they do in classic French pastry.

See the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Berry—I love topping financiers with fresh raspberries before baking. Blueberries also work great, especially if you make coconut financiers. Another option would be to top with pitted Bing cherries (or half a cherry per financier cake if they are large), or even blackberries.
• Coconut—I tested this recipe with ground almonds (almond flour) and also shredded coconut, which I ground in a food processor to achieve a finer texture. This worked very well. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut.
• Chocolate—replace half the flour with the same weight of cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed to make chocolate financiers with raspberries.
• Gluten-free—this recipe works with white rice flour, chestnut flour, and most alternative flours, like sorghum or millet.

Note that if you want to make your own ground almonds, you can from unroasted almonds. If you've got almonds with the peel on, you can use the same technique for peeling pistachios to remove the almond skins. Or you could leave the skins on and grind them as is. The resulting almond meal will have flecks of brown from the almond skins and that's okay!

Preventing Financiers From Sticking to the Pan

To bake these financiers, use a mini muffin pan and take the time to prepare the muffin pan properly before dividing the batter between the cups because financiers are high in sugar and can stick to cake pans. You can either butter and flour the cups of the muffin pan or you can use parchment paper liners.

For this recipe, I used a non-stick mini muffin pan (buttered) or a regular mini muffin pan (not non-stick) (greased and floured). Both work. If you are unsure about the type of pan you are using, better safe than sorry! Grease and flour the pan before scooping the batter to ensure your almond financiers don't stick.

Another option would be to bake this recipe in silicone bakeware. Pastry chefs often favour silicone because it makes unmoulding easy. They always recommend greasing the silicone pans to ensure the cakes unmould cleanly, especially financiers which tend to have sticky edges.

How to Make French Almond Cakes

Almond financier cakes might be the easiest cake you make. No equipment is required! The longest part of the process is chilling the batter before baking.

There are two key steps to making financiers: browning the butter and whipping the egg whites. Most desserts with egg whites would have you make a meringue or whip the egg whites to stiff peak, then fold them into the dry mixture.

Before doing any of the other steps, start by melting the butter in a small saucepan.

Continue cooking the melted butter until the milk solids begin to brown and release a delightful nutty aroma. Once this happens, take the brown butter off the heat and transfer it to a small bowl to cool before using.

Whipping the egg whites incorporates air and water, which is why egg whites are considered a leavening agent. But with financiers, all you have to do is whip the whites until they are frothy. It's faster and easier, and you still end up with a spongy, light texture!

Combine the egg whites and the salt. The salt will help you break up the globular egg white proteins.

Whip the egg whites until they are very frothy and thick with a balloon whisk.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium–large bowl.

Stir the frothy egg whites into the dry ingredients.

The batter will be fairly thick at this stage.

Add the browned butter to the batter and stir it in.

The batter will be quite soft, especially if the brown butter was still warm.

Wrap the bowl of batter and chill it for about one hour to firm it up before baking.

Use a ¾ ounce disher to divide the batter evenly between the cups of a mini muffin pan.

You can top almond financiers with fresh raspberries or blueberries before baking.

Raspberry financiers before baking in a 350 °F preheated oven on the middle rack.

Bake the financiers until the edges are golden brown and pull away from the sides. Verify the centres are baked with a cake tester inserted next to the fruit (not through the fruit).

Garnishes and Other Financiers Recipes to Try

You can make plain financiers or you can top them with garnishes, like berries. The raspberries bake into sweet little heart shapes. And if you don't love berries, try these coconut financiers topped with sliced kiwi. Or if you need a gluten-free recipe, try these pistachio financiers (which I've tested with all-purpose flour and rice flour) or cranberry chestnut financiers (made with chestnut flour). You can also make chocolate financiers by incorporating a little cocoa powder (replacing some of the all-purpose) and topping with cocoa nibs.

Storage Recommendations

Financiers have the best texture a few hours after they are baked: these French tea cakes are slightly chewy and crunchy on the outside on the day they are baked and have a soft crumb inside. Store them in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in foil. The edges will lose their crunchy texture but will stay chewy for a day or two. The flavour improves with time.

You can also freeze them. Unwrap and defrost overnight in the refrigerator to avoid any condensation or moisture build-up on the surface of the cakes. You can actually take a few out and place them on a plate at room temperature to defrost. It takes about 30 minutes and works well if you need them fast!

If you tried this recipe for almond financiers with raspberries (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Raspberry Almond Financiers

Almond financiers are a lovely sweet treat to serve with afternoon tea or a hot cup of coffee. I like to add a few summer berries which pairs well with these almond cakes. 

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Calories 93kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• Mini muffin pan
• Cooling rack
• Mini offset

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 63 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 90 grams ground almonds OR finely shredded unsweetened coconut
• 120 grams large egg white(s)
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 24 Fresh raspberries OR 48 blueberries

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat to brown it (the milk solids brown at the bottom and release a nutty scent). Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
• Whisk together the sugar, flour and ground almond OR shredded coconut.
• In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they form a thick froth.
• Dump the egg whites over the dry ingredients and whisk them in to incorporate.
• Add the browned butter and mix again until everything is just combined.
• Cover the batter with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• Divide the batter among 16 cups of a mini muffin pan (similar to this pan on Amazon) that has been greased and floured OR a silicone financier pan, like this silicone pan on Amazon (ungreased). Top with berries.
• Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.
• Transfer to a rack to cool after a minute.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• You can make these with store-bought ground almonds, or you can grind your own. If doing so, follow the same technique to peel pistachios to remove the brown skins. Then, you can grind them in the food processor. Alternatively, you can leave the skins on and grind them as is. The resulting ground almonds and financier cakes will have flecks of brown from the skins.
• I love to top these with fresh raspberries, but you could also use fresh blueberries.
• For gluten-free financiers, most gluten-free flours will work, including rice, millet, or chestnut flour. You may need to do a test batch to validate.
• Financiers can be baked in mini muffin pans, whether aluminum, non-stick, or even silicone pans. Silicone makes it easy to unmould these, whereas aluminum pans must be greased and floured before.

Nutrition

Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.3mg

The post Raspberry Financiers appeared first on The Bake School.

Every recipe I tried from Marie Asselin's book Simply Citrus (Amazon) was fun and unique, but I think these sesame kumquat financiers might be my top pick (page 118). You know I am a huge fan of financiers and I love to bake them because they are so versatile, allowing you to incorporate so many different dry ingredients, alternative flours, and even fresh fruit. If sesame and kumquats aren't your thing, you have other options for financiers where you can either add to the base recipe or make some careful baking substitutions:

• add golden kiwis and shredded coconut to make kiwi coconut financiers
• top classic financiers with summer berries to make berry financiers
• replace the flour with chestnut flour to make gluten-free cranberry chestnut financiers
• replace the ground almond with ground pistachios and replace all-purpose flour with rice flour to make gluten-free pistachio financiers

I tested this sesame kumquat financiers recipe both with and without the kumquats, and of course, the recipe works both ways, but the kumquats are such a treat in these little tea cakes. Don't be fooled: the kumquats don't just make a cute little garnish. They add so much flavour, a deeply orange taste because you use the whole fruit, which balances out the sweet sesame in these cakes. I won't tell you how many I scarfed while typing up this post. So good!

The beauty of kumquats is that you can eat the whole fruit, skin and all. Give it a try during the winter months when they're in season. Some do have seeds, so you should slice them open to remove them before blending them into a cake batter or garnishing cakes. You can also candy kumquats.

To bake these financiers, use a muffin pan and take the time to prepare the muffin pan properly before dividing the batter between the cups because financiers are high in sugar and can stick to cake pans. You can either butter and flour the cups of the muffin pan or you can use parchment paper liners.

You can buy a copy of Marie Asselin's book Simply Citrus on Amazon and be sure to follow her blog, Food Nouveau.

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Sesame Financiers with Kumquat

This is a super fun twist on financiers! This recipe is flavoured with tahini and chopped kumquats, but feel free to use orange zest! These super flavorful financiers are the perfect treat to serve with afternoon tea.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes minutes

Total Time 46 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Calories 119kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk

Ingredients

• 24 kumquats*
• 58 grams unsalted butter
• 60 grams tahini (sesame butter)
• 85 grams ground almonds or finely ground almonds
• 63 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 100 grams light brown sugar
• 40 grams toasted sesame seeds
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 5 large egg white(s) freshly separated, or from a carton

Metric - US

Instructions

• Slice off both ends of each kumquat. Thinly slice 6 kumquats, seeding as you go, and set aside. Seed and mince the remaining kumquats, and set aside separately.
• Set a rack in the upper third of the oven, and a second rack in the lower third. Preheat to 350°F (175 °C). Generously grease 2 (12-cup) muffin pans.** Sprinkle with flour and tap out the excess. Alternatively, you can line the muffin pans with parchment paper cups.
• Warm the butter and tahini together just until the butter is melted. Stir until combined.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, sesame seeds, and baking powder. Add the egg whites and whisk until fully incorporated and the mixture is thick and sticky. Whisk in the butter-tahini mixture. Fold in the minced kumquats.
• Drop 1 tablespoonful of dough into each prepared muffin cup. Arrange a few kumquat slices over each financier. Place the first pan on the upper rack and the second one on the lower rack. Bake for 16 minutes, swapping and rotating the pans halfway through, until the financiers are golden brown around the edges. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Run a sharp knife around each financier and carefully pull them out of the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Financiers are at their very best when freshly baked, but you can refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature before eating.

Notes

• This recipe comes from Simply Citrus by Marie Asselin. You can purchase the book on Amazon.
• Please note that the measurements I've listed here in grams are what I used to make this recipe and not from the author's recipe in the book.
• ** I tested greasing & flouring the pan vs using regular paper liners vs using parchment paper liners and by far, the parchment paper liners worked best for me. You can order parchment liners on Amazon.
• Tahini and "natural" nut butters tend to separate as they sit, with the solids sticking to the bottom of the container and the oil floating to the top. Make sure to scrape, stir, and shake well before measuring to ensure a good mix of both components.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcal

Gibbs Smith and Marie Asselin offered me a copy of Simply Citrus, as I was a recipe tester of the book. As always, please know that I wouldn’t work with a sponsor nor recommend a product if it wasn’t worth it.

Please note this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post Sesame kumquat financiers appeared first on The Bake School.

This cranberry chestnut financiers recipe is gluten-free, made from a combination of ground almonds and chestnut flour, instead of all-purpose, yielding sweet little cakes that go so well with tart cranberries.

These cranberry chestnut financiers, like any berry financiers are one of the easiest recipes you can make. Whether you use raspberries, blueberries, or cranberries, the basic steps are still the same and they aren't difficult.

Financiers are like mini pound cakes, denser than a muffin, but in a good way. They are made from a combination of finely ground nuts, all-purpose flour, and sugar, bound together with brown butter and egg whites. Such a simple list of ingredients and so much room for variation and baking substitutions, like in the recipe below.

Remember with financiers, the only leavening agent in the recipe would be the egg whites, but they aren't whipped into stiff peaks, so not much air comes from them. You don't use a mixer to make these and the egg whites are whipped by hand until frothy and light, but not stiff. This is why these little cakes are a little denser than other typical cakes.

I opted for chestnut flour, a gluten-free flour, because chestnut gives such an interesting flavour to baked goods. It's so difficult to pinpoint and describe it. Is it nutty? Yes. But it has a richer flavour, reminiscent of cocoa. Chestnut flour is sweeter than regular all-purpose. Baked goods made with chestnut flour make me think of molasses or caramel, with coffee notes, especially if you let the flavours develop and eat these financiers two days after you baked them. You can swap out the chestnut flour for something else. This recipe works with good old all-purpose flour, cup-for-cup (or better yet, gram-for-gram). I've even made them with rice flour, like in these pistachio financiers for another gluten-free financiers option.

With little cakes that have a high sugar content, it's important to properly prepare the cake pan before portioning out the batter and baking. Typically, we grease and flour cake pans, whether that's with oil or butter, in combination with all-purpose flour. Given that these chestnut financiers are gluten-free, I tested sorghum flour to prepare the pan. That worked well, even with the pretty vintage pan I used, which are prone to sticking. I actually had zero issues getting the financiers out of the pan. For this recipe, I paired the chestnut flour with cranberries because chestnut flour is sweet and a lovely contrast for tart cranberries. It might seem a little unusual, but I've used this combination before for this chestnut cake made with a combination of chestnut flour and all-purpose, as well as dried cranberries, and topped with rum frosting and sugared cranberries.

Other unusual financiers recipes include these kiwi coconut financiers made with shredded coconut and golden yellow kiwis and these sesame kumquat financiers incorporate tahini into the batter and kumquats, which are like miniature oranges. Financiers really are a great canvas for introducing so many different ingredients and flavours!

For these gluten-free financiers, I baked the little cakes in a vintage mini bundt pan, which means you have to take the extra time to properly prepare the cake pans, being sure to brush on a thin, even layer of butter in each cup before flouring. Use chestnut flour to do this since that's what's in the cakes!

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Cranberry Chestnut Financiers

These gluten-free financiers are made with chestnut flour and frozen cranberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 16

Calories 117kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Mini muffin pan
• OXO balloon whisk
• ¾ oz scoop

Ingredients

• 115 grams unsalted butter plus more for greasing pan
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 63 grams chestnut flour
• 63 grams ground almonds
• 90 grams large egg white(s) from 3 large eggs, approximately
• 0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 1.25 mL pure vanilla extract
• 48 frozen cranberries do not thaw!
• sorghum flour for dusting greased pans.

Metric - US

Instructions

• Brown the butter in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat when the butter smells very nutty and the milk solids have browned. Set aside the pan to cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar with the chestnut flour and the ground almond.
• In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they are frothy and quite thick.
• Pour the egg whites over the dry ingredients and whisk them in, then add the vanilla and the browned butter and stir to incorporate everything together really well.
• Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter 16 wells of a mini-muffin pan and flour them with sorghum flour, tapping out the excess. Make sure that the sides and bottoms of the muffin wells are evenly coated.
• Divide the batter between the 16 wells of the pan, and top with 2 to 3 frozen cranberries, pressing them down slightly.
• Bake for about 25 minutes until the edges begin to brown.
• Let cool 5 to 10 minutes so that the financiers firm up before unmolding them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 12mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Cranberry chestnut financiers (gluten-free) appeared first on The Bake School.