Irresistible French Almond cookies, taught by Californian star Thomas Keller
About this recipe
A delicious French cookie that you will find in most "Pâtisseries" in France.
Thomas Keller wrote "they are my favorite of the classic petit-four cakes"
For those of you who don't know those, the best way to describe Financiers is simply almond flavored soft cookies, with moist center and crisp edges.
As Thomas Keller describes it, it's all about the brown butter which gives their flavor.
You will love them !
Origin of the recipe
Originally Financiers were made by nuns in the middle ages.
Around 1890, the parisian baker Lasne who had a pastry shop nearby the Paris Stock Exchange baked them in rectangular molds, so they would resemble a bar of gold
Those rectangular molds are nowadays used for financiers to create those perfectly crispy edges and moist centers...
Source of the recipe
A recipe by my Californian star, Thomas Keller, from his book "Bouchon Bakery".
The recipe is on page 98
The Brown Butter "Beurre Noisette"
1. Melt the Butter (½ Cup or 100 g) in a large saucepan on medium heat
2. As soon as it is melted, whisk to keep it from separating. Increase the heat to cook on medium/high heat
3. The bubbles will lessen, and the butter will stop singing, and eventually becomes brown, or "caramel colored" as Keller says
4. Transfer to a bowl, and leave the dark sediments in the saucepan
5. Keller recommends using a cheesecloth to strain perfectly the butter
The Powders
6. Whisk the Sugar (½ Cup or 120 g) and the Flour (¼ Cup or 40 g) with a wire whip to break up any lumps
7. Sift in the Almond Flour (⅔ Cup or 60 g)
8. Whisk with a wire whip
9. Make a well in the center and pour in the Egg Whites (½ Cup or 100 g)
10. Whisk them, gradually incorporating the dry mixture
11. Add in the Brown Butter
12. Scrape down the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula
The Molds
For the molds, I strongly recommend metal molds.
Nowadays, most of them come in silicone molds, which I don't like as they can't produce crispy edges.
My favorite brand is GOBEL molds, which are non sticky, and honestly, I could keep these molds perfectly for 10+ years. A high quality product.
If you live in the states, you may even find them in the store chain "Sur La Table".
Otherwise, you will find those GOBEL Financiers Molds on the internet easily.
Sur La Table
161 W Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91105
USA
Thomas Keller recommends to brush the financiers molds with softened butter, and then refrigerate. I prefer using a Cooking spray
13. To pipe the batter, I recommend using a measuring cup with spout. You may use a spoon as well !
14. Pipe the batter into the financiers molds
15. Tap the bottom of each mold to smooth the batter
16. 
Preheat to 425 °F / 220 °C
17. Make sure to stop 0.11" (or 1/8" or 0.3 cm) from the top
18. Place the molds on a pan
19. Once the molds are in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 345 °F / 175 °C
20. Bake for about 20 minutes
21. Let the financiers cool down 1 minute and immediately unmold them
22. The best is to cool them down on a cooling rack
Irresistible almond cookies !
Best eaten the same day. They can be stored in a covered container for 1 day
Finding and copying your recipe was hell. They had better be worth it or I will be upset and eager to miss any further offerings.
by all means, let us know. If they are not good, I will just close the entire website
just kidding, needless to say
Love the recipe, where did you buy your molds? I checked online and there are only pan molds for six, no single ones.
At the chain store "Sur La Table"
This looks very good. I would like to try to bake it tonight but I don't have the special tray. Can I use a mini brownie tray instead?
Yes of course you may.
However, I find those special trays very easily in Los Angeles. Stores like "Sur La Table" have them. (Pasadena, Santa Monica)
The shape of those molds makes those financiers unique !
I made these today and they were amazing.......tasted some in Paris earlier this year and been itching to home make some. I used my brownie pans and they turned out beautiful
Thank you so much
Great, Beejay
Where can I get the baking sheet with holes? I am baking these right now. I used small muffin pans.
Thank you.
I added a link for one of those models :
To purchase online, see HERE
Thanks for the recipe, FX (François-xavier). I'm based in Japan and a colleague of mine brought me some French Financiers from a Hiroshima pastry shop called Kaedenoki Hiroshima (http://www.kaedenoki.jp/shop/item_list?category_id=548263&h=3058ad5ab2b4794deeb270c054b6df46&sp=false). I don't have a sweet tooth but I liked it. So, I decided to bake some, and I chose your 20-piece recipe. The only difference is that I added about a tablespoon of vanilla essence, and extended the baking time to about 40 minutes since I don't have a proper convection oven (just to achieve that exterior crispiness). I am happy with the end result. Also, I used a CHEFMADE Financier Cake Pan since that's the only available mold from Amazon here. Cheers!
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Congrats Mike, your financiers look really delicious !
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Glad you liked it !