Financiers or Friands

We found almond meal/ almond flour in the pantry and I can't remember what I bought it for.  Today I decided to use it, so I surfed around and found this very easy recipe from joy of baking.  We had it for snacks and it turned out to be good, we all loved it.  Click on the link to learn more about this French Tea cakes.  We don't have boat shaped mold so I used mini muffin pan and used strawberries and blueberries for topping.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) (80 ml) beurre noisette (made from 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter)

1/4 cup (30 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (50 grams) almond flour (meal) or finely ground almonds

3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large (90 grams) egg whites, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Fresh berries (optional)

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with the rack in the center of the oven. Place the almond flour (meal) on a baking sheet and bake 6 - 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Place 12 rectangular or boat shaped tartlet molds (each holds about 2 tablespoons of batter) on a large baking sheet. (Can also use mini muffin molds. Makes about 16, depending on size of your muffin molds.)

Put 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted let it come to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally. As it boils you will notice that a foam will appear on the butter's surface. Continue to cook the butter until it looks clear and the milk solids have dropped to the bottom of the pan and have turned deep brown. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Let cool to room temperature. You will need 1/3 cup (80 ml) of beurre noisette. Use the leftover beurre noisette to butter the molds, using a pastry brush.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, almond flour (meal), confectioners sugar and salt. Make a well in the center and fold in the lightly beaten egg whites, vanilla, and the 1/3 cup beurre noisette. Fill each mold almost to the rim and bake for 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and place a few berries on top of each. Return the molds to the oven and bake a further 5-7 minutes or until the Financiers have become light brown on top and are springy to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. These are best eaten the same day they are made. (The batter will keep a few days in the refrigerator.)