Financiers (French Almond Cakes)

These little tea cakes, or Financiers (French Almond Cakes), are lovely little buttery almond cakes that are baked in a rectangular shape, and are said to look like bars of gold. Thus, the name, Financiers.

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Financiers are traditional small pastries with a light moist sponge cake texture. They generally have nuts, typically almonds, but also pistachios or hazelnuts, and are buttery and delicious.

They’ve got a lovely crispy crust outside, and light and moist inside.

Simple and delicious

You may remember seeing these little cakes when I first made them with a roasted raspberry swirl. Find that recipe here.

The cakes are so good, simply plain, that I thought they deserved a special place of their own.

Serve these any time!

These moist & delicious almond cakes are popular for morning or afternoon snack in France.

Perfect cakes for any dinner party or brunch, like Mother’s Day or Christmas.

Serve them with coffee for a lovely afternoon snack. Or serve them with tea for tea time.

Financier pan

To get this bars of gold shape, you’ll want to use a Financier pan like this one from Amazon.

This pan is something you can use over and over again.

Make little individual loaf cakes for Christmas gifts. Just wrap them up in a pretty cloth, maybe even a dishtowel, and tie with a pretty ribbon, and you have a nice homemade gift to give friends and neighbors.

What if I don’t have a Financier pan?

If you don’t have one of these pans (and don’t want to buy one), but want to make these individual Almond Cakes with Roasted Raspberry Swirl, just fill muffin tins, or bake a larger loaf in a regular 9-inch x 5-inch (or thereabouts) pan.

I also love these paper loaf pan molds if you want to give these cakes away as gifts.

Items you may want to go along with your tea cakes

Financier pan

Cake and cupcake carrier

Paper loaf pans

Edible glitter for garnishing

Wood slab cake stand

Rustic wooden cupcake stand

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Financiers (French Almond Cakes)

5 from 3 votes

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Financiers (French Almond Cakes)

Financiers are traditional small pastries with a light moist sponge cake texture. They’ve got a lovely crispy crust outside, and light and moist inside. Want to make a double batch, simply use the servings slider on the recipe card to easily adjust the ingredient amounts.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword almond, cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8 cakes

Author Debi

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup super fine almond flour
• 6 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and cook until it turns a pale golden brown color. Keep a close eye on the butter, as it can burn easily.
3. Grease the bottoms and sides of the financier pan with some of the melted butter.
4. Let the butter cool slightly as you work on the rest of the recipe.

5. Sift the all-purpose flour and powdered sugar together into a large bowl and stir in the ground almonds.

6. Place the egg whites in a separate large mixing bowl, and whisk by hand, with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer, until they are white and frothy.
7. Gently mix the frothy egg whites into the flour mixture. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla extract, and mix well.
8. Spoon the batter into the cake pan, about ½-inch to 3/4 –inch high.
9. Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden.
10. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove them from the pan, and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
11. Serve the cakes warm or at room temperature. Cakes can be sprinkled with powdered sugar for garnishing.