13 Feb 2014

#Valentine's day quick fix: French glacé cherry and pistachios financiers

Bloody tricky Valentine's day.
You play it cool, pretend you absolutely don't care about Valentine's day, still secretly hoping that a Valentine's card or flowers will appear in your lounge on Friday night.
The Man, for all his amazing qualities, has shown that he's a man like many others though: he can't read your mind.
So what do you do?
You bake a cake.
Cake is always a good answer to life's many dilemmas. 

cherry and pistachio cakes

French glacé cherry and pistachios financiers 
Financiers are little almond cakes, often called "friands" in the UK. They usually are very nice. But this version, developed by Cindy from Petit Gâteau, one of my favourite bakers in London, is one step higher in cake heaven.
Pistachios and French glacé cherries (you'll find 100% natural ones in most supermarkets) are an amazing addition to these little wonders.
Trouble is you'll probably find you want to eat more than one! 

Ingredients
(makes 8 financiers)

50g plain flour

50g ground almonds

150g caster sugar

80g unsalted butter

4 egg whites

Vanilla paste

A dozen pistachios, roughly chopped

A dozen French GlacéCherries, halved

Prepare the French glacé cherries and pistachios financiers: 
1/ Preheat your oven to 200°C (th 7). 

2/ In a large bowl, mix together flour, ground almonds and sugar.

3/ In a pan, melt the butter over medium heat until it turns golden brown. Then pour over the dry ingredients and mix everything together with a spatula or a wooden spoon.

4/ Add the egg whites and vanilla paste, and mix thoroughly.

5/ Pour the batter into a financier or muffin baking tin.

6/ Add pistachios and FrenchGlacé Cherries halves into each financier (dividing the total quantity between the 8 mini cakes).

7/ Bake for 15-18min.

8/ Let cool down for 5 minutes before removing from the tin/mould and cool down completely on a wire rack before eating.

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