Coffee and Walnut Financiers

For Christmas, my mom gave me Sugar, the newest cookbook by Ottolenghi. It is amazing. The book includes familiar and comforting desserts (cheesecake!) alongside refreshingly new flavor combos (star anise and blackberry). Yotam Ottolenghi is a cookbook legend, and for good reason. His desserts are craveable and inspiring. I want to make everything and I think you will too. 

After flipping through Sugar, I landed upon this recipe for coffee and walnut financiers. I love all things coffee-flavored and these dense cupcakes are no exception. Although, cupcakes might be too basic a term for something so luscious. In French, these “financiers” are named after little rectangle-shaped blocks of gold.

Financiers are a lot like friands, another French dessert. By toasting the butter you make a “beurre noisette,” which gives the financiers an extra rich, nutty taste that is – dare I say – even better than regular butter.

Ottolenghi baked the batter in high-sided Popover pans, so I did too. The icing trickles downwards in a way that makes you want to grab one and immediately stuff it in your face. Oh yeahhhh.

BATTER

⅔ cup/75 grams walnut halves

8½ tbsp/120 g unsalted butter, cut into ¾-inch/2-cm cubes, plus extra for greasing

1¾ cups plus 1½ tbsp./220 g confectioner’s sugar

½ cup plus 1½ tsp/90 g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup/80 g almond meal

8 oz/230 g egg whites (from 6 large eggs)

1 tbsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in ⅓ cup/80 ml boiling water

            My note: Instead, I used 1½ tsp instant espresso coffee

1½ tsp finely ground espresso coffee (such as Lavazza)

ICING

2 cups plus 1 tbsp/250 g confectioners’ sugar

2½ tsp instant coffee granules

2 tbsp hot whole milk

1½ tsp light corn syrup

12 walnut halves for finishing

confectioners’ sugar for dusting

finely ground espresso powder for dusting

1          Preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C. Spread the walnuts out on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, roughly chop them into ¼ -inch/0.5-cm pieces. Set aside until ready to use.

2          Place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until melted. Continue to cook until the butter is foaming, gently swirling the pan from time to time, to allow the solids to brown more evenly. You will see dark brown sediments begin to form on the sides and bottom of the pan. Continue to allow the butter to bubble away until it turns a rich golden brown and smells of toasted nuts and caramel. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes, to allow the burnt solids to collect at the bottom of the pan. Strain through a fine-mesh (or muslin-lined) sieve, discarding the solids. Allow the browned butter to cool slightly before using. It should still be warm when folding into the mix later. If it is too hot, it will cook the egg whites; if it is too cool, it will be difficult to incorporate into the mix.

3          While the butter is cooling, sift the confectioner’s sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Add the almond meal and whisk to combine. Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and use a whisk or fork to froth them up a little – you will not need to whisk them completely. Pour the egg whites and dissolved coffee granules into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the browned butter and mix until the batter is thick, shiny and smooth. Fold in the walnuts and ground espresso, then cover with plastic wrap – making sure that it actually touches the surface of the batter – and transfer to the fridge for 2 hours.

4          Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Butter the molds of your chosen muffin pan and dust with flour. Tap away any excess flour, then spoon the batter into each mold, filling them three-quarters full. Bake for about 25 minutes if using a regular muffin pan, 14 minutes for a mini-muffin pan, or until the tops are a little cracker and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

My note: When I used a high-sided Popover pan, these still took 25 minutes to cook.

5          To make the icing while the cakes are in the oven, sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl and add the coffee, milk, and corn syrup. Mix until smooth and set aside; don’t worry if there are undissolved coffee granules in the icing – these look good!

My note: Personally, I found the icing a little runny. I wanted the icing to slowly crawl down the sides. So, I kept adding 1 tbsp powdered sugar at a time to thicken the batter.

6          Remove the pan from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, before gently tapping it against your work surface to encourage the cakes to fall out. If there are any stubborn bits sticking to the pan, use a butter knife to gently ease them out. Place the financiers on a wire rack to cool completely.

7          Spread the icing on top of the financiers and finish each with a walnut half and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and finely ground espresso powder before serving.