Financiers

Melt the butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat, swirling regularly. Allow it to foam and then pass through the foam to a clear, deep-amber stage with golden-brown milk solids on the bottom. The scent should shift from dairy to toasted hazelnut. Pull from the heat the moment the colour is right and immediately pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a cool bowl. Cool to room temperature — it should be liquid but not warm. The browned butter is the defining flavour of financiers; do not rush this step.

In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, icing sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt until evenly combined. Add the egg whites — unwhipped, straight from the shell — and stir with a spatula or whisk until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous. The egg whites act as a binder and add a faint chewy quality, but they must not be aerated. Stir rather than whisk so no air is incorporated. The mixture at this stage will look like a dense, pale paste.

Pour the cooled liquid brown butter into the almond paste in a slow, steady stream, stirring with a spatula continuously. The batter will loosen and become glossy and pourable as the butter is incorporated. Once smooth and shiny, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes — up to 24 hours. The rest allows the almond flour to absorb the butter fully and the batter to firm up slightly, which improves the characteristic chewy crust.

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 390 F. Butter the financier moulds (or a mini-muffin tin) generously. Fill each mould three-quarters full with the cold batter — do not overfill or the crust will not form properly. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are deep golden-brown, the centre has puffed slightly, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs. The dramatic colour contrast — dark gold edges, lighter domed centre — is the hallmark of a properly baked financier.