Orange financier recipe | eat. live. travel. write. (2024)

Today’s recipe is bringing a little sunshine to our increasingly dark and grey days. Orange Financiers. They’re a small batch that you can whip up in no time – making your afternoon tea fancier or adding a little something to your post-dinner coffee when you don’t want dessert but need a *little* something sweet.

If you read this blog often, you’ll know what a huge financier fan I am (see: here for other financier recipes). I love them because they don’t use many ingredients, the ingredients they do use are pantry and fridge staples and they don’t need any fancy equipment. Of course, if you are making them the traditional way, you’d use a special mould shaped like a gold bar. To recap:

What is a financier?

Essentially a tea cake made with almond meal and only a small quantity of all-purpose flour, a financier is a little more substantial than a madeleines. Because they only contain a little bit of flour, they are easy to make gluten-free.

Why are they called “financiers”?

It’s said that these delicate cakes were originally baked in an oval shape by nuns of the Order of the Visitation and called visitandines. A clever baker in Paris working near the financial district in the 19th century, one Monsieur Lasne, saw how they could be easily eaten on the go, and thought this would appeal to his busy banker clientele. He shaped the cakes like gold bars and named them financiers as a nod to both his clientele and the surrounding district. They now come in various shapes, including rectangles and ovals, and here we’re using a mini muffin pan because they’re easy to find and many people have them in the kitchen already.

Whilst they sound fancy, they honestly couldn’t be easier!

Yield: 12

Orange financiers

Orange financiers will brighten the greyest of days!

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time12 minutes

Total Time22 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup (57g/ 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup (25g) ground almonds (almond meal)
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400˚F. (If you are using non-stick muffin tins you may not need to but otherwise) generously grease a 12-cavity mini muffin tin.
Melt the butter (either in a small pot on the stovetop over medium heat or in a glass jug in the microwave for about 1 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Rub the orange zest into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar is orange and the mixture is slightly wet. Whisk in the flour and ground almonds.
Beat egg white until frothy with electric beaters (1-2 minutes on high).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a rubber spatula to gently fold until the dry ingredients are just combined.
Add the cooled, melted butter to the batter and use a rubber spatula to gently mix until the butter is completely incorporated.
Add the orange juice to the batter and use a rubber spatula to gently mix until the juice is just incorporated.
Divide the batter between the muffin tins using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the centre is slightly puffed and the edges are golden and slightly crispy. The tops might have cracked a little.
Remove from the oven and place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before removing the financiers.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Notes

Best eaten the day they are made although they can keep for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temperature.

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did you make this recipe?

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Lemon blueberry financiers

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Check out Nuts.com for all your baking and cooking needs!

(this is an affiliate link, but I genuinely use Nuts.com products and love them. Highly recommended if you are in the US/ Canada where they currently ship)

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