As promised, and if you saw my Instagram picture before they were baked, here is the recipe for the most amazing pastry ever -- blackberry financiers.
My favorite part about this little tiny cake (not to be called a muffin in my house) is the browned butter used in the recipe. It gives it a rich nutty density that adds to the almond base and light powdery sugar that's the majority of the cake. And that, in a nutshell, is the recipe.
I use this one that I found on Pinterest a few years ago. There are dozens of variations, like caramel, that I want to try but always go back to the blackberry. And why ruin a good thing?
The history of this little beauty, pronounced fah-nance-EE-ay, is this:
Pierre Lacam, in ''Memorial Historique de la Patisserie,'' published in 1890, wrote that the financier was created by a baker named Lasne, whose bakery on the Rue St.-Denis was near the Bourse, the financial center of Paris. Presumably, the rich little cake was named for the rich financiers who frequented his bakery. The cake was baked in rectangular molds, the shape of gold bars. (Source: NYTimes)
And what rich, edible gold bars they are.
I hope you enjoy. And if you have a different recipe, please share.
xo
Your friend,
Caroline
