Gluten free financiers

 

I love almonds. If you check the recipes in this blog you can notice it.

In my parents’ house, every family member has a tree dedicated and mine is the almond tree!

So it’s time for gluten free financiers!

I’ve always wondered why they are called so.

I did a fast search and it seems that these little soft cakes, shapes like e ingot or round, made with butter, flour, almonds and egg whites, were already prepared in the Middle Ages by the Sisters of the Order of the Visitation, the cakes were known as the sisters: visitandine.

Then the almonds and their dual aspect, sweet and bitter, have fallen  out of use in the Renaissance era: the cyanide is obtained from them and at that time it could easily end in some “sweet gift” sent by kings or aristocrats to people they do not like. So it is understandable  that just the smell of almonds made them suspicious …

In 1890 (the French are always accurate) the pastry Lasne in rue Saint Denis in Paris, near the Bourse, the stock exchange, reinventing them.

The pastry’s customers were finance businessmen, busy and always in a rush (sic) and then Lasne thought to make small cakes,  nutrients, without icings and decorations, to eat quickly without knives and forks, and without any risk of stain. And, above all,  with forerunner marketing skills, he prepared them in small molds similar to ingots … et voilà the financiers …

I used the Ladurée recipe,  that after preparing the batter does it rest in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

We liked a lot these financiers, indeed. Obviously every confectioner has its recipes and its balance between almonds, flour, butter, sugar and egg whites … so  you only have to make the sacrifice to try them all  to find the best …..

 

 

 

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FINANCIERS senza glutine

 

Preparation time: 20 min

Resting time: 12 hours

Cooking time: 8-10 min

Difficulty: Easy

The version with gluten is identical, just replace the gluten-free flour with flour 000

Ingredients for 30 financiers (depends on the size of the mold)

• 95 g of butter
• 195 g of powdered sugar *
• 70 g of gluten free flour (I used C Schar Mix)
• 65 g of powdered almonds *
• 2 pinches of baking powder *
• 6 egg whites1 teaspoon almond extract (the original recipe includes vanilla)

* gluten-free and / or gluten contamination free. Check the labels and consult Celiac associations

You need:

• Molds financiers:  5×2.5 cm or 4.5 cm
• a casserole
• a large bowl
• a spatula
• A saucepan to melt butter
• A brush to grease the molds

Instrucions:

In a casserole melt the butter and let it brown over medium heat until it is light brown.

Dip the bottom of the pan in ice water to stop the cooking

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients:  icing sugar, gf flour, almond flour and the baking powder.

Combine the egg whites into the dry ingredients, a little at a time, stirring with a spatula, being careful not to make lumps.

Unite the almond essence and the  melted butter, stirring constantly with a spatula.

Cover the bowl and place the preparation to stand in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

After this time, melt quickly 20g of butter in a small saucepan and brush the molds the with melted butter .

Put the molds in the fridge for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, turn the oven to 210 degrees.

Dust the molds with a little of gf flour and eliminate the excess.

Pour the mixture into the molds of financiers until 3/4.

Put in the oven and cook for about 10-minutes, but check in some ovens they takes less time.

Remove from the oven, let cool slightly and then desmold and put them to dry on a wire rack.

 

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Notes:

Other financiers recipes do not require this long rest of the batter  in the refrigerator, so you just have to try and see which one is the best.

You can keep the batter of the  financiers in the fridge for two or three days and use it when you want.

The financiers are kept in a hermetic container 3 to 4 days,  just put them away as soon as they are out of oven and cooled.

Also without gluten they have been remained soft.