French Friday’s with Dorie
I know this sounds like a remarkable coincidence but have a friend named Madeleine who is a financier. No, really. I do. Thinking of her now as I write this makes me giggle — probably because “madeleine” and “financier” both have associations with small French cakes. She probably knows this because she is crazy smart, being a financier and all. She’s also crazy fun and whenever I spend time with her we end up getting into loads of trouble. My giggles therefore are probably the result of the many memories I have of madcap adventures we have shared since our 20’s.
I have been pondering for weeks now which crazy tale of Madeleine the financier’s I would share in a post about these delectable, petite cakes cooked up for French Friday’s with Dorie. I have also been excited about the tons of extra time I would have to craft a hilarious Madeleine story — seeing as how these financiers (the cakes) are so easy to figure out and take practically no time at all to bake up.
No such luck! Regretably I made the mistake of telling Madeleine the financier about her impending infamy with my readers and she screamed at me:
“Absolutely not! Do not write about me in your blog!”
I was forced to agree to not telling you anything about her to keep the peace between us. So therefore I will have to postpone sharing with you the story of how one time Maddy and I went to Las Vegas and except for the hour or so it took for us to check in and get back downstairs to the casino (where she met a very handsome Arab man) I would not see her again until two days later at the airport where she showed up sporting a sparkly diamond tennis bracelet. One I had never seen her wear before.
Instead I must write about these financiers. They are just about the most perfect morning food there is. Sweet but not too sweet, the almond flour mixed with beurre noisette (browned butter) adds just the right kind of nutty flavor without any of the overpowering extract-based flavor you might expect from similar offerings at trendy coffee boutiques — You know, the kind that will sell you something similar for $3 or more.
Additionally, as is the case with Madeleine the financier, any first-thing-in-the-morning encounter with these cakes ought to come with a tall cup of coffee. Madeleines in the morning require a dose or two of caffeine and both would thank you profusely for bringing a tall cup if they could speak that early.
Financiers
Financiers are typically baked in a small rectangular shaped molds so that the finished cake resembles a small bar of gold. Yes, gold. Gold not unlike the gold that a jeweler somewhere had to melt down to fashion a very expensive tennis bracelet my friend Madeleine still sports on fancy occasions. (The bracelet she still insists she has had for a very long time but that I can’t recall ever laying eyes on in the 20 years I had known her prior to our Vegas trip.
I don’t own a financier pan and had to draw the line at buying one just for this assignment. I instead made due with a mini-muffin pan which worked out very nicely and perhaps contributed to what I think is the perfect size for these treats. It is nice to know that after buying rose syrup, preserved lemons, 9 inch spring form pans, Cream of Wheat, and who knows what else for French Friday’s I actually do have a line I will not cross when it comes to kitchen purchases!
Who knew?
(Bloggers, do the people you write about in your blog ever get so mad at you that they don’t speak to you? Believe it or not it has not yet happened to me but there is always a first time. What are your experiences here? Come to our page at Facebook and let me know your thoughts on this important topic!)
This is what you will need:
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 6 large egg whites
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
This is how you make it:
- Put the butter in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally.
- Allow the butter to bubble away until it turns a deep brown.
- Pull the pan from the heat and keep it in a warm place.
- Mix the sugar and almonds together in a medium saucepan.
- Stir in the egg whites, place the pan over low heat, and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, heat the mixture until it is runny, slightly white and hot to the touch, about 2 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour, then gradually mix in the melted butter.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the batter to create an airtight seal, and chill for at least 1 hour. (The batter can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Butter 12 rectangular financier molds (these were tested in 3-3/4 x 2 x 5/8-inch [10 x 5 x 1-1/2-cm] rectangular molds that each hold 3 tablespoons), dust the interiors with flour and tap out the excess.
- Place the molds on a baking sheet for easy transport.
- Fill each mold almost to the top with batter.
- Slide the molds into the oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until the financiers are golden, crowned and springy to the touch.
- If necessary, run a blunt knife between the cookies and the sides of the pans, then turn the cookies out of their molds and allow them to cool to room temperature right side up on cooling racks.
This dish was an assignments for French Friday’s with Dorie, a cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s culinary tome “Around My French Table”. We generally avoid including the recipes in our posts. However, wherever there has been a significant adaptation by me or where the recipe has already been publicly posted by Ms. Greenspan or her publishers or hundreds of other bloggers I will either include it here (only when adapted) or provide a direct link. Please feel free to contact me via the link provided on my page if you need any assistance finding a French Friday with Dorie Recipe
Ah come on Trevor-those financier pans are so little….they tuck so sweetly into any corner of a kitchen drawer…or maybe nested next to a tennis bracelet in the jewelry box…
Beautiful financiers!!! I gave mine away and now I wish I saved one to go with an afternoon cup of coffee, oh well!
Have a wonderful weekend;-)
My husband just made me a delicious rose syrup margarita, that bottle takes up prime space. I think that the small muffin tins are ideal.
I think I’ll be making these again soon with the rose syrup and a sprinkling of pistachios!
Well, your financier friend may never speak to you again, but you can content yourself with this classic French petit four sec. You are a devil, Trevor!
I have always loved these little cakes. The beurre noisette lends Financiers a depth of flavor that puts them over the top. I have always made these babies in small rectangular molds with slanted sides. The Financiers, once turned out of the molds, look like little ingots of gold. You have inspired me to make some. I’m on it. Thanks for the inspiration! I am so pleased you are back and writing. It was a desert without you.
Its good to be back Adri to our mutual inspiration society!
I’ve a friend who always used “Madeleine” as her “coffee name” at Starbucks (I guess because they sell them by the check out?) One day she was at a conference, still wearing her badge, and the cashier caught her.
I had a conversation about “coffee names” last night and was amused by how many have them. Even those with common names used one to avoid confusion!
Now, your friend Madeleine, sounds like a fabulous gal who has enriched your life greatly!
And what perfect little financiers- I also used the mini muffin pans to avoid purchasing yet another kitchen item!
She is a good sport Bev or I wouldn’t really do what I do!
Trevor, Your friend Madeleine will be happy you choose not to write about her. Funny post! And your Financiers look perfectly delicious! They are so perfect with coffee or tea!! I know I will be making them again…I really want to try the chocolate version!
I say…What’s one more pan?
Have a great weekend!
Another week, another pan! Someone here is VERY glad I’m not in the baking group!
I meant chose…sorry!
I just made financiers for the first time a few weeks back and really enjoyed them. They were quite sweet so I’m interested to try Dorie’s version. Kudos for not buying a new pan. It’s amazing how many things one can acquire for the kitchen. And my kitchen is stuffed to the brim!
Mine has spilled over into three cabinets in the garage! What is one more small pan really? Hmmm…
I can imagine that you had a VERY hard time coming up with which tale not to tell about Madeleine! She sounds like a scream. (Though these things happen – I had to censor a very racy little story about my old friend Quahog in my recent pork & clams post.) I LOVE that you made your financiers round!
In that vine-covered house, all was happy and fine, till that one day the girls left in those two straight lines. It was winter in Paris, a very cold day, but poor little Madeline did not want to play.” So, she went instead to Vegas and meet a handsome Arab man who bestowed upon her a diamond tennis bracelet that her friend Trevor still covets till this day.
I don’t wear diamonds but I still covet those missing hours of Madeleine’s! I know she hasn’t told me everything! And why not? I can be discrete. Sometimes.
Trevor, of course, you having a financier friend called Madeleine is wonderful…your stories always make me sigh, I would not even be able to come up with a story half as good as yours – not even a chance to get someone mad at me…more sighs…
As far as your financiers are concerned, there is no need to buy more baking pans for these as mini muffin pans will certainly do the trick and your French tea cakes look delightful but forgive me today for liking the linen table runner (cloth) the most – I love that design and just last week I bought one from a weaver, he is a real artist amd I love these linens so much.
Have a great weekend – I will go to your facebook page now…
Just a kitchen towel Andrea! This one from West Elm…a weakness of mine!
My youngest sister is a Madeleine as well…maybe I need to include more stories in my posts to see if any of my friends and family even read my blog 🙂 Beautiful cakes!
Your mileage may vary Liz but just about none of my friends read this blog though many pretend to. Of course, this gives me a freedom I enjoy testing from time to time…as you can see here!
I’m sure that Madeleine is somewhere… coffee in hand, reading this post, shaking her head, and sighing in relief at the story you chose to not talk about. I’m giggling like a schoolgirl between your post, confessions about coffee names and West Elm addictions.
And you have proved me wrong on my supposition that nobody really reads the comments. I have, on occasion, dropped a few gems in there. (Usually on posts about my sister who claims to read my blog but I know she is lying…)
I´m sure Madeleine told you not to post about her so you would! If not, ship some financiers to her and make up. I have so many molds and pans and gadgets that I brought more than ten years ago, I always find what I need. But thank whoever I don´t live in the US and didn´t purchase the rose syrup…
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – Trevor, you certainly know that! Thank you for bringing smiles and giggles to my face this morning 😉
If you send Madaleine some financiers that look like this, I doubt she’d care what you wrote.
I learn a lot from the comments on this blog. Who knew people made up coffee names. My mind is racing for a new name.
Love it! It’s like when Kathy Griffin said she had a run-in with Whitney Houston who told her not to talk about her in her stand-up, and she ended up telling that story in her televised special!
Madeline sounds like a ton of fun! I mentioned one of my sons in a blog once and his wife told him about it. I was told to not do it again!I didn’t use his first and last name so what was the big deal? OMG hope he doesn’t read this! Your financiers look great. I’m loving my new eating plan and have made a 6 month commitment to it.
So glad you went the mini-muffin route because, like you, I am determined to curb my kitchen equipment spending habits. Over the last ten years I have purchased 2 panini grills, 3 food processors (I did just return one to Macy’s), 3 immersion blenders and 1 ice cream maker (remember the olive oil ice cream). I edit and then re-purchase! I called Madeleine and gave her your Blog Link. She’ll be calling. Your financiers look delicious. I agree, easy, worth the 15 minutes and such a wonderful morning pick-me-up.
LOL – we do have to buy some crazy things for this group. I preserved my own lemons courtesy of a friend who gave me a bunch, and have avoided buying coeuer de cream moulds, ricers and spaetzle makers, but I have some strange ingredients, including the rose syrup, that I have no idea what I’ll ever do with them again. Love the Madeleine story. Weren’t these madeleines just devine? I shudder at the prices you see on items at coffee shops – and if it tastes just ok or awful, I feel cheated.
I honestly don’t think I have room for another pan, but I may not be able to resist if I came across one for a great deal. I really like the look of the plain financiers and will try these soon as well as some of the other variations I have seen and read about. I hope you shared some of these with your friend!
Your post was the perfect one to read on this dreary day – made me smile! Even if it seems like spring will never come I guess I will always have Sis Boom Blog where I can find fun stories and beautiful pics! Thanks Trevor!
What a hilarious story. I loved these financiers, but I’d like a diamond tennis bracelet more.
Yes – my larder and baking pan collection has swelled since FFwD. I am not allowed to bring in anything new unless I trade it out for something old (or figure out a way to get it in the pantry and make it look like its been sitting there for months). The things we do…
Alas, if I wrote about the more interesting stories in my life, I would probably be disowned by several family members or I would have a lot of explaining to do to my parents. I may be almost 40 but I am still scared of my mother. Sigh.
Love love love this story! And the shape of these in the mini muffin tin is adorable! Like Cher I am not allowed to buy something new unless I throw out something old. Sigh.
I finally got ’round to making these this week and now am catching up on everyone’s posts. There’s a store I frequent that has what I swear are financier pans, though they’re not labelled that way. It’s been quite a temptation, to pick one up, but so far I’ve resisted. It helps that I have some of my grandmother’s pans that worked quite nicely in their place.
Also, I think Madeleine should feel quite pleased that she’s joined your cast of characters on the blog.