Financiers with berries

I baked these for what I expected would be four or five friends dropping by for afternoon tea. In fact ten people showed up. I did the jazz hands of "oh noes!" and apologised for only having one type of cheese and cut the financiers in half and hastily washed some grapes and you know what? It all came good.

Oh, and since people kept asking, a financier is really just a fancy name for a friand.




150g (1.5 cups) almond meal
90g plain flour
240g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
280ml (about 8) egg whites
250g unsalted butter, melted
seasonal berries or other fruit


Preheat the oven to 190C. Lightly grease standard 1/2-cup 12-hole muffin tin with butter.

In large bowl, mix almond meal, flour, icing sugar, baking powder.

Add egg whites a little at a time and whisking well after each addition.

Pour in melted butter and whisk through until just combined.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins until they are almost full.

Gently place berries or fruit pieces on top of each financier.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool on wire racks.

Makes 12.


From Bourke Street Bakery, by Paul Allam and David McGuinness