Have fun while satisfying your sweet tooth by creating delicious and pretty pâtisserie at home.
Read on for a gorgeous recipe for a French classic treat, almond financiers, by Christophe Felder and Camille Lesecq — two of France’s most respected pastry chefs — from their new cookbook, La Petite Pâtisserie.
For five more recipes for sugary sweets from La Petite Pâtisserie, get your copy of our Jan/Feb 21 issue!
e
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ sticks (5 ¼ oz. / 150 g) unsalted butter, plus more for brushing
- ½ cup (2 oz. / 55 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ¾ cup (2½ oz. / 70 g) almond flour
- ⅓ cup (1 oz. / 30 g) ground hazelnuts
- 1 pinch vanilla bean powder (or ¼ tsp vanilla extract)
- 1 ⅓ cups (6 oz. / 170 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 5 egg whites
- 1 tbsp (20 g) apricot purée
- Sliced almonds, for decorating
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Brush the financier pans with butter, then dust with all-purpose flour.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook until it begins to brown and smells a bit like hazelnuts, then strain through a fine sieve (you’ll need to do this while it’s still warm).
Sift the almond flour with the ground hazelnuts, vanilla bean powder (if using extract, add later with the egg whites), confectioners’ sugar and all-purpose flour into a large bowl.
Whisk the egg whites into the dry ingredients, then whisk in the brown butter and apricot purée.
Pipe or spoon the batter into the pans, filling each three-quarters full. Decorate with sliced almonds, then bake for at least 12 min.
Immediately turn the financiers out of the pans and serve warm or room temperature.
Note: For a crisp crust, use metal pans.