winter chills and thrills

​A few weeks ago, I was watching “America’s Test Kitchen at Home.” One of their co-hosts, Bridget Lancaster was preparing Financiers. Financiers are small almond cakes that uses six ingredients to make the most wonderful two-bite petite cakes. They are perfect for entertaining as they can be prepared ahead of time (mine are being stored in an area of my unfinished attic where its cold and humidity free). You can dress these gems up with slivered almonds, pieces of chocolate or fresh fruit. For my dinner party, I topped mine with chocolate and almonds. 

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​For the recipe you’ll need unsalted butter, finely ground almond flour (available at Costco or your local food store), granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, table salt and egg whites. If you would like a video tutorial from Ms. Lancaster, click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuB9tRLQtEg and fast forward to 14:44. A mini cupcake pan is also needed along with baking spray with flour. The spray aides in removing the cakes after baking. I tried using a spray without flour and the cookies were difficult to remove from the pan
 
These almond cakes were fabulous! I love almond croissants and these have a similar flavor profile. The exterior of the cake gets a lovely crisp texture from the sugar in the recipe, yet they are not sweet by any means. So, if you are looking for a simple, elegant dessert, may I suggest Financiers. 

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Financiers
America’s Test Kitchen at Home (Episode 2126)
By Stacey Mostellar, September 15, 2021
 
MAKES 24 CAKES
 
"WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: For financiers with complex almond flavor and contrasting textures, we started by spraying a mini-muffin tin with baking spray with flour. The flour in the spray helped the sides of the cakes rise along with the center, preventing doming. We then stirred together almond flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, and egg whites. We opted for granulated sugar, which doesn’t totally dissolve in the egg whites, to ensure a pleasantly coarse texture. Once these ingredients were whisked together, it was just a matter of stirring in nutty browned butter and baking the cakes."

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup (3 ounces) finely ground almond flour
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (4 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon table salt
⅓ cup (3 ounces) egg whites (3 to 4 large eggs)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Generously spray 24-cup mini-muffin tin with baking spray with flour. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring and scraping skillet constantly with rubber spatula, until milk solids are dark golden brown and butter has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Immediately transfer butter to heatproof bowl.
2. Whisk almond flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt together in second bowl. Add egg whites. Using rubber spatula, stir until combined, mashing any lumps against side of bowl until mixture is smooth. Stir in butter until incorporated. Distribute batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (cups will be about half full).
3. Bake until edges are well browned and tops are golden, about 14 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Remove tin from oven and immediately invert wire rack on top of tin. Invert rack and tin; carefully remove tin. Turn cakes right side up and let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

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