Rhubarb financiers
Another recipe using brown butter [see Helen's recipe for brown butter cakes] – I love the rich flavour it brings to otherwise simple recipes – but you can use melted butter instead. These are rich, hence their small size, but the rhubarb offers welcome freshness. I prefer whole ground almonds (containing all the skin), as they are less wasteful and more flavourful, and I use red lammas wheat flour, which dates back to 1660.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 12
Ingredients
To serve
Preparation
Method
Step 1
Brown the butter as in the recipe for the Brown Butter Cakes and set aside to cool.
Step 2
Wash and peel the rhubarb and cut into 2cm chunks. Bring some water to a rolling boil and carefully drop in the pieces. Cook until soft – this will take 3-4 minutes depending on the ripeness. Drain and leave to cool.
Step 3
In a bowl, mix together the ground almonds, the flours and the icing sugar, ensuring there are no lumps. Toss in ½tsp freshly grated lemon zest, then add the cooled brown butter and mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Step 4
In a clean bowl, use a fork or whisk to break up the egg whites until they are a little frothy, then add to the dry ingredients and mix together until fully homogeneous. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 200ºC/fan oven 180ºC/mark 6. Grease 12 mini muffin moulds really generously with melted butter (I use the same silicone moulds as for the Brown Butter Cakes), then fill the moulds with half the batter. Top each one generously with some of the poached rhubarb (reserving some to finish) and then add the rest of the batter. Top with the reserved rhubarb and then scatter with demerara sugar (this will give the financiers a lovely crackle and crunch post-bake).
Step 6
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until caramelised. They are surprisingly difficult to overbake as the almonds ensure they stay moist. Serve warm with some crème fraîche to cut through the sweetness.
