Late night hazelnut financiers

Monday night while I prepared to freeze two more egg whites I noticed that the egg whites' bowl in the freezer was really full. It had 20 egg whites waiting for a recipe. Better, some recipes. I use plastic ice makers to store egg whites in the freezer because it helps to count them and to remove them before use. Each egg white fits in the space reserved for one ice and after frozen it can be removed by twisting the ice cube tray.

While I added two fresh egg whites I removed six frozen ones which I left outside the refrigerator to use in some financiers. It was Monday, it got late, I got tired and the egg whites went back to refrigerator where they would wait until the next day.

Yesterday I was also not in the mood for baking financiers because I was still very tired and I craving some warm dessert. So I made some crumble which I ate with vanilla ice cream. Whenever I opened the refrigerator door I looked at the pot filled with egg whites and think: 'wait for me, I am coming soon'.

Today I came home exhausted, carrying many supermarket bags but with the egg whites in my mind. I thought about them all day long and I just couldn't wait to make the financiers. I could feel the taste of the hazelnuts financiers but instead I made dinner, helped Estela with the homework, shower and bed. Then I rested a little bit before going back to the kitchen to work on my project.






It was so easy and delicious. The hazelnuts were peeled and slightly toasted. I made a very thing flour of it and sifted with wheat flour and confectioners sugar. Then I melted and cooked the butter with some vanilla scraps. Finally I whisked the egg whites until hard peaks. Then I added the flour mixture to the egg whites in two or three times mixing to incorporate, added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and finally I added the butter (beurre-noisette)





E voilá! Here are they, my hazelnut financiers with strawberries and raspberries added. The scraps of the vanilla bean were cooked with the butter and the perfume that came out of it was incredibly delicious. It also tasted delicious and after one hour there were only seven of the 15 financiers left!


Hazelnut Financiers:

4 egg whites
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons hazelnut or almond flour or grounded hazelnuts/almonds
1 cup confectioners sugar
125 grams unsalted butter melted and cooked until golden brown
Scraps of half vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Melt butter with vanilla scraps and let cook until golden brown ( a stage known as beurre-noisette) and reserve. Sift hazelnut flour, wheat flour and sugar mixed these ingredients and reserve. In a large bowl whisk egg whites with pinch of salt with a fouet until had peaks form. Add the flour mixture until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Finally add the butter still warm and mix well to incorporate all the ingredients. Bake in small tins at 180C/300F for 20 minutes until golden on the edge of the financiers. Can add some fresh or frozen fruit to the cake before baking. Sprinkle some confectioners sugar before serving.




This recipe makes 15 financiers.




If I ever tried to make a heart with a frozen strawberry on a financier I would be able to make it but accidentally the strawberry formed a beautiful heart on the cake! I served it to my babe which came back from China with a terrible flu.