Some while back I made some Chocolate Financiers, which were really lovely. Then I made them again when I was in Canada. My Great-nieces Grace and Claire, two really sweet girls, really loved them. So, since I hadn’t done a video I thought I would make them again, so that I could show them how it is done. So I have made a video that they can watch with everyone else as well.
In the original recipe I used trimoline, which is invert sugar. The process to make invert sugar is quite long winded, and I have found that golden syrup works just as well. So for this recipe I have used golden syrup, it still allows the moisture to be retained in the same way that invert sugar does.
Apart from the chocolate flavour these financiers retain all the main ingredients of the plain ones, almonds and beurre noisette being the main ones. Beurre noisette is butter that is heated in a pan until it turns a light brown colour, and takes on a nice nutty flavour.
Once all the ingredients are mixed together it is necessary to chill the batter in the fridge, overnight or for at least 6 hours. This allows the batter to firm up as the melted butter cools. Then the batter is piped into financier moulds(though you could use other pans, including muffin tins) and baked.
What could be simpler? Not only is this a simple recipe the resultant cake is simply wonderful, so moist and flavoursome that it is difficult to stop eating them.
Once baked the financiers may look a little dry, and also the outside may be slightly crispy. But put them, when cooled, in an airtight container and they quickly take on a very moist appearance, and the crispy edges soften nicely.
Ingredients:
- 250g ground almonds
- 120g plain flour
- 250g icing sugar
- 305ml eggs whites
- 340g butter(I used unsalted)
- 40g cocoa powder
- 100g golden syrup(I am sure corn syrup will work just as well)
Method:
- Sift the flour, sugar and cocoa powder together, into a large bowl.
- Mix in the ground almonds.
- Add the egg whites and golden syrup and stir until everything is combined.
- In a pan melt the butter and cook until it starts to colour. Once the butter solids have turned a dark golden colour take of the heat.
- Immediately pour the butter into the batter mixture and stir until it is all combined.
- Cover the bowl with cling film/plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/220C Fan/430F.
- Grease the financier moulds.
- Take the batter from the fridge and fill a piping bag with it. You don’t need a nozzle, just snip the tip off.
- Pipe the batter into each mould, filling to about two thirds full. This mixture will make 36 financiers, so you may have to bake in batches, cleaning and cooling and then greasing the moulds again for each batch.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. The edges will be slightly crispy and the rest will be soft and moist.
- Remove from the mould and place on a rack to cool. As they cool down the edges will soften also.