Recipe for Financiers a Sweet French Treat
Cakes & Cookies · David Scott Allen · Dessert · Provencal Recipes · TasteAlmond and browned butter are the main ingredients of a little French pastry called a financier. Originally, these pastries were called visitandines, named after the order of French nuns who created the recipe in the Middle Ages. I’m not sure in what shape the Sisters of the Visitation made them but, in the late 1800s, they were made by a bakery in the finance district of Paris as little rectangular cakes in the shape of gold ingots, thus the name financiers. Continue reading here to learn more about the history of these sweet treats.
French Almond Financiers (Visitandines)
Delicious sweet small cakes
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 oz almond flour finely ground (roughly 3/4 cup)
- 4 oz Sugar 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp
- 2 tbsp All-purpose Flour
- pinch sea salt
- 3 oz egg whites roughly 1/3 cup
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Prepare a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with baking spray (the kind with flour).
- Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet (don’t use a nonstick skillet — it makes it hard to see when the butter is brown) over medium-high heat. Cook the butter, stirring and scraping constantly with a spatula until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma — about 3 minutes. Immediately transfer butter to a heat-proof bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together almond flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Add egg whites and combine using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth. Stir in butter until fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (about half to two-thirds full).
- Bake until edges are well-browned and tops are golden — about 13-14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert a cooling rack on top of the pan. Invert rack and pan, and carefully remove the pan. Turn the cakes right side up and let them cool for 20 minutes before serving.
- They last for several days in an airtight container but are best eaten the day they are made. Once they are in a container, they lose the crispy edges, but the flavour is still wonderful.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Classic French Cookies:
Madeleines a Classic French Recipe
Sweet Citrus Clementine Flavoured Madeleines
Croquants – Croquets a Provencal Christmas Dessert
Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
Full-Day Wine Adventure from Marseille: Exploring the Côtes de Provence Appellation
Join us for a captivating day tour as we explore the Côtes de Provence wine appellation! Your adventure begins by unveiling the beauty of Montagne Sainte Victoire, an iconic symbol of the area.
Book this ExperienceLegal
All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication InformationAffiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Related Provence Articles
A Sweet Fig and Almond Cake
December 22, 2021
Life here is never boring, and sometimes, even the simplest of things takes a twist, which leaves us wondering how we manage to get through a day without some disaster, or another. However, the sweet reward of a fig and almond cake makes everything better. On Saturday, we headed out on the bikes, on one …
Remembering My Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake Recipe
July 3, 2020
A Book with Provencal Recipes: Small-town florist Natasha is determined to leave the past far behind her. But when she learns her ex-husband never told his family about their divorce – and that he needs her to accompany him on a trip to the French countryside – could love bloom again between them? ~ Excerpt …
French Chocolate Mousse with Cocoa Nib Brittle
May 20, 2019
This recipe is definitely for chocolate lovers! An adaptation of Jean-Andre Charial’s chocolate mousse (mousseux au chocolate, craquant au grue de cacao, crème glacée au caramel) for home cooks. This is a slightly simplified version of Charial’s chocolate mousse that does not lose any of its deliciousness in the translation. Almost no other dessert could be …
Galette des Rois Recipe and Epiphany in Provence
January 5, 2021
Epiphany on January 6th The “Three Kings day” is a real party at home. We like to make the “galette” ourselves and share this moment with the family. Besides, January is the month we celebrate my brother’s birthday (January 3) and mine (January 5). We would be delighted to welcome you for an immersion in …
No Comment