Traditional Financier

 

Financiers are little French almond cakes that look like gold bars. They can be made in less than 1 hour, and enjoyed while they are warm and the edges are crispy. 

Do note that the temperature of the brown butter is key in this recipe. It needs to be still hot or very warm when added to the flour mixture so that the batter will emulsify (to get chewy-moist crumb. However, it should not be so hot that it will cook the egg whites.

The financiers are best the day they are bakes, but they can be stored in a covered container for 1 day.

Ingredients (6 pieces) - recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery.

50g unsalted butter

20g plain flour 

30g almond flour

30g sugar

pinch of salt

50g egg whites

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 deg Celsius.

2. Brush financier molds with butter and refrigerate/freeze the molds to harden the butter.

3. Place the sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk to break up any lumps. Sieve in the plain flour and add in almond flour. Whisk to combine.

4. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as it is melted, swirl the pan for even browning. Lower the heat and continue to cook and swirl the pan  to keep the milk solids on the bottom of the pan from burning. Once the butter is caramel coloured, remive the pan from the heat. Brown butter can be made ahead and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just heat it up a little before using.

5. Add the egg white to the flour mixture and gently whisk to incorporate the dry mixture until all the ingredients are well combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl and whisk again. Finally whisk in the brown butter in TWO additions. 

6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the financier molds, or use a spoon to spoon the batter. Stop piping or spooning when the mold is almost full (1/8 inch from the top) - 27g or 1.5 tablespoon per mold. Wiggle the mold side to side, then gently drop it on the work surface a few times to flatten the top of the batter evenly. This helps ensure that the financiers will come out uniform and smooth.

7. Place the pan in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 175 deg Celsius, and bake for 20minutes or until the tops are almost completely golden browned, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Wait for 5 minutes before unmolding the financiers and cooling on a wire rack. 

* to make chocolate financiers:

50g unsalted butter

10g plain flour 

30g almond flour

30g sugar

pinch of salt

50g egg whites

30g chopped 70% dark chocolates

Method is the same as making Traditional Financier except the melting of chocolates in the butter once the latter is browned.

Sourdough Discard Crackers With Seeds

 

Below recipe from Bake With Paws. My adapted recipe for small quantity is in brackets.

Ingredients:

300g sourdough discard (100g)

75g olive oil or melted butter (25g)

180g plain flour (60g)

1 tsp salt (1/3 tsp, 1g)

2 tsp baking powder (2/3 tsp, 1.3g)

4 tsp toasted black sesame seeds (2 tsp)

or

4 tsp herbs

or 

1 Tbsp poppy seeds + 20 chia seeds + 20g flax seeds + 50g sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients.

2. Add olive oil and use dough scrapper to combine.

3. Add sourdough discard and mix in. It will be very wet at first, but don't panic, continue to use the dough scrapper to fold and mix in. Once a dough is formed, cover and rest the dough for 30mins. (Note: The dough can be chilled in fridge overnight.) Divide into small pieces (depends on the size of your baking pan). Place one piece of dough between 2 parchment paper and roll as thin as possible. Use pizza cutter or dough scrapper to cut into strips. 

4. Transfer the dough to a baking pan. Bake at 170C for 15mins until light golden brown. Rotate the pan if necessary, for even baking. Cool on rack and store in airtight container.