Raspberry Financiers ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

Financiers are the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon tea.  They are delicate, buttery, French almond tea cakes that are made with browned butter which gives the cake an extra layer of flavor.

It is #CakeSliceBakers time, and we are back with our July cake from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey. A little background on the #CakeSliceBakers ~ each month the Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the book and we each choose one cake to bake. On the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important one is to have fun (and enjoy baking & eating cakes!). The choices this month were Raspberry Angel Cake, Hazelnut Dacquoise, Blueberry Financiers, and Plum Madeira. All wonderful choices, but the raspberries look amazing right now so I decided on financiers, but made them with raspberries rather than blueberries.

Financiers are very closely related to friands, a treat widely available in Australia.  Since I happen to have a coupe of friand pans a regular size and a mini -  I decided to just use them rather than try to find silicone pans.  These pans are similar to a muffin pan but the holes are oval in shape and they give the cakes a nice imprint, which is great if you don't want to dust with powdered sugar.

This recipe is the perfect recipe for that time when you don't want a of of sweets in the house as it only makes twelve financiers.  Or in the case of my family, you better be quick to get one - also known as you snooze, you lose.  These were gone in one day, and I am not in the least surprised as the flavor is amazing.  I didn't want large pieces of raspberry in the cakes so I measured out the quantity called for in the recipe, cut them slightly smaller, and then froze them in a single layer on a small sheet pan.  They do not need to be thawed out prior to making the recipe, and it also helps to stop the berries "bleeding" into the cake and turning it pink.

Please scroll down after the recipe to see all the beautiful cakes that were baked this month, and don't forget to check out our Facebook page. Also, if you are interested in joining the #TheCakeSliceBakers, please send me an email at thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com, and I will send you more information.


Raspberry Financiers
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

• 150g (⅔ cup) butter
• 6 eggs whites
• 150g (¾ cup) sugar
• 90g (⅔ cup) almond meal
• 65g (½ cup) all-purpose flour
• 125g (1 cup) fresh raspberries
• powdered sugar for decorating

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 205℃ (400℉).
• Make the beurre noisette by placing the butter in a pan and bring it to a boil. Keep boiling until it turns a light brown. Remove from the heat and scrape down the sides of the pan to incorporate all of the residue from the browned butter. Pour into a cold pan to prevent further cooking and set aside.
• Prepare financier pans (metal or silicone)
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they start to foam but are not whipped.
• Add the sugar and beat until just combined, stopping to scrape down the sides, then mix for again until fully combined.
• Gradually add the almond meal and flour, beating rapidly for a short time until fully combined.
• Add the melted butter and mix to combine.
• Add the raspberries to the sponge batter and mix to ensure that the fruit is well distributed.
• Spoon the batter into the molds and place them on a baking sheet in a preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
• Once fully cool lightly dust with powdered sugar.

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