Almond financiers are a lovely sweet treat to serve with afternoon tea or a hot cup of coffee. I like to add a few summer berries which pairs well with these almond cakes.
In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat to brown it (the milk solids brown at the bottom and release a nutty scent). Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
Whisk together the sugar, flour and ground almond OR shredded coconut.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they form a thick froth.
Dump the egg whites over the dry ingredients and whisk them in to incorporate.
Add the browned butter and mix again until everything is just combined.
Cover the batter with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Divide the batter among 16 cups of a mini muffin pan (similar to this pan on Amazon) that has been greased and floured OR a silicone financier pan, like this silicone pan on Amazon (ungreased). Top with berries.
Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.
Transfer to a rack to cool after a minute.
Notes
You can make these with store-bought ground almonds, or you can grind your own. If doing so, follow the same technique to peel pistachios to remove the brown skins. Then, you can grind them in the food processor. Alternatively, you can leave the skins on and grind them as is. The resulting ground almonds and financier cakes will have flecks of brown from the skins.
I love to top these with fresh raspberries, but you could also use fresh blueberries.
For gluten-free financiers, most gluten-free flours will work, including rice, millet, or chestnut flour. You may need to do a test batch to validate.
Financiers can be baked in mini muffin pans, whether aluminum, non-stick, or even silicone pans. Silicone makes it easy to unmould these, whereas aluminum pans must be greased and floured before.