Hazelnut Financiers
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These small bite Hazelnut Financiers are boasting of toasty hazelnut flavor and sweet brown butter. Treat yourself, your family, and your friends to one or two of these delicious financiers with some tea.
Financier is simply a small bite-sized French almond cake, traditionally shaped in the form of a gold ingot. The cake has a sweet, buttery, nutty flavor with a moist texture and slightly crispy outer crust.
Almond financier is the most common version, but this financier recipe calls for hazelnut flour. The Hazelnut Financiers recipe is adapted from my previous Financier recipe. I replace the almond flour with hazelnut powder and top the financiers with halved hazelnuts. You can buy hazelnut powder at the grocery store or make it by yourself if you can’t find any. Other than that, financiers are easy and quick to prepare.
What Is Financier?
Financier is a French cake made with beurre noisette or brown butter, egg whites, sugar, white flour, and nut flour. It comes in different shapes and even flavors. Almond is the most popular, but hazelnut and pistachio are also commonly found.
There are a few theories as to how financiers got their name. One of which is that the traditional rectangular molds make the cakes resemble gold bars. Another theory is that it’s named for finance industry workers who needed a dessert that wouldn’t mess up their suits when picking up an afternoon snack. The cake become popular as the cake could easily be stored in the pocket for long periods without being damaged. Either way, the financier cake name stuck and so too did these delicious cakes.
Financier Mold Substitute
Financier is baked in a traditional rectangular mold that resembles a bar of gold. If you plan to buy Financier mold, look for a non-stick pan for easy release. In addition, choose metal material instead of silicone to get crisp and golden brown edges. If you don’t have or plan to buy one, you can substitute it with a muffin pan.
Ingredients You Need
- Brown butter. Beurre noisette or brown butter is regular butter that has been melted and cooked just long enough to toast the milk solids until golden in color, the oil slightly darkens in color, and the butter has a nutty aroma. Browning butter transforms the butter’s flavor into something nutty, rich, and complex.
- Egg whites. Make sure you use room-temperature eggs because they blend more evenly in batters.
- Castor sugar. You can also replace it with confectioners’ sugar with the same weight measurement.
- Honey. Honey is optional. It helps keep the Financier moist and makes them taste more flavorful.
- Cake flour. Cake flour is ideal for baked goods with a tender texture due to its low gluten content. You can also use all-purpose flour to substitute cake flour.
- Baking powder. Just a little bit to give it a tiny lift. You can also skip the baking powder.
- Hazelnut flour. It adds texture and richness. You can buy hazelnut flour at the grocery store or make one yourself if you can’t find any.
- Halved hazelnuts. For topping
How to Make Brown Butter
Place the butter in a light-colored pan so you can see when the butter has browned. Heat on low to medium heat. Begin stirring to move the butter around as it melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam and sizzle around the edges. Keep stirring.
After about 5-8 minutes, the butter will turn to a golden color and you will notice small specks at the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove the pan from heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process. If left in the hot pan, the butter will burn. The brown butter should smell buttery, nutty, and rich.
How to Make Hazelnut Flour From Scratch
The recipe calls for hazelnut flour. Hazelnut flour, also known as hazelnut meal, is a nut flour made from finely ground hazelnuts. To make it from scratch, toast raw whole hazelnuts in the oven at 350F/175°C for 10-15 minutes to crisp them and heighten the nutty flavor. Remove the bitter skin by wrapping the warm hazelnuts in a dish towel for 1 minute and then rubbing vigorously in the towel until all the skin comes off. Cool completely and use a food processor to grind them into fine powder.
Baking Tips
- Don’t over-grind the nuts. If you make hazelnut flour by yourself, make sure not to over-grind nuts or they will turn into nut butter.
- Keep an eye on when cooking brown butter. There are only a few seconds between brown butter and burnt butter, so keep your eye on the stove the entire time.
- Temperature matters. Make sure you use room-temperature eggs and completely cooled brown butter.
- Rest and chill the dough. This step is optional. The purpose of this is to harmonize the flavors and firm up the batter for easy piping.
- Don’t overfill the molds. You should fill them about 80-90% full for the best result.
How to Serve Financiers
Financiers are at their very best when freshly baked, or ideally eaten within 48 hours. In fact, their texture deteriorates in a few hours. You can make the batter ahead of time and keep it chilled up for a few days, then bake off fresh batches as needed. They are best enjoyed with a cup of tea or as a delicious everyday sweet treat.
More French Dessert Recipes
- Sable Breton Cookies (French Salted Butter Cookies)
- Mini Chocolate Cherry Galettes
- Lemon Madeleines
- Double Chocolate Sable Cookies
- Puff Pastry Palmier Cookies
Ingredients
- 7 tbsp (100 gr) unsalted butter
- 3 (90 gr) egg whites, room temperature
- 7 tbsp (90 gr) castor sugar
- 2 tsp (15 gr) honey
- 6 1/2 tbsp (50 gr) cake flour
- 7 1/2 tbsp (45 gr) hazelnut flour
- 1/8 tsp baking powder, optional
Topping
- 20-23 whole hazelnuts, halved
Instructions
- To make hazelnut flour: Toast 1/3 cup whole hazelnuts (50 gr) in the oven at 350F/175°C for 10-15 minutes. Wrap the warm hazelnuts in a dish towel for 1 minute. Rub vigorously in the towel until all the skin comes off. Cool completely and use a food processor to blend them into fine powder. It is crucial not to over-grind the hazelnuts or they will turn into nut butter.
- Make brown butter. In a medium light-colored frying pan or skillet, melt the butter over low-medium heat. As the butter melt, it will begin to foam. Stir constantly to prevent the milk solids from sticking to the bottom and burning. The butter will go from yellow to golden brown quickly. Once the milk solids are toasty brown (dark brown, not black), and the butter smells nutty, remove from the heat.
- Strain and transfer the browned butter into a heatproof bowl immediately. This will prevent the residual heat from the pan to continue cooking or burning the butter. Cool brown butter completely before using.
- In a large bowl, add egg whites. Whisk slightly to break down the egg whites. Add castor sugar and honey. Whisk for 3 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.
- Sift in cake flour, hazelnut flour, and baking powder. Whisk until well combined.
- Add cooled brown butter. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight. You can skip this step, but chilling is recommended for the best flavor.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F/190°C. Grease the cavities of the financier mold with butter.
- Remove the batter from the fridge. Using a spatula, mix to loosen the batter.
- Transfer the batter into a piping bag and pipe the batter into the molds until 80-90% full. You can also alternatively spoon the batter into the molds.
- Place 5 halved hazelnuts on top of each financier.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove financiers from the pan immediately and cool completely on a cooling rack. They are best eaten on the same day they are made.
These small cakes are so good and pretty. Slightly crunchy on the outside and soft inside with hazelnutty flavor.
Super nutty and I love the crunch from hazelnut topping