Xanthan Xperiment: Financiers (Part 2)

Having hurled myself into the gluten-free baking maelstrom and emerged (dizzy but satisfied) from the abyss, I am prepared to counter outraged readers' protests that my so-called 'authentic' French financiers are, in fact, the wrong shape. Instead of calling to mind the traditional rectangular gold bars after which they are named, my financiers have the proud silhouettes of tiny thatched huts. This is because they are, in fact, baked in mini-muffin tins.

I should explain. I do possess an honest-to-goodness French silicon financier mold, obtained with surprising difficulty and at great expense from a cookware shop in Arras some while back (the Kid Squid, to his disgust, accompanied me on my feverish quest, which required several hours that might otherwise have been profitably spent crawling around reconstructed First World War trenches). When I got my treasure home and baked up my first batch of petits gateaux, I was dismayed by the result. Instead of a crisp, buttery, slightly brown and caramelized exterior, I was confronted with a pale, flabby, soft 'crust' barely worthy of the name. Quelle horreur!  'Nope,' I decided, 'metal is the way to go,' and as, like Alton Brown, I am a great believer in kitchen implements' multi-tasking abilitilies, it has been mini-muffin tins ever since. I prefer the ones that make twenty-four at a time. The cakes are about 4 cm wide at the base: perfect as a tea-time treat.

The following recipe is adapted from one that appeared in the big yellow Gourmet cookbook of a few years ago. It is, of course, gluten-free. I have discovered through careful experimentation that in this recipe Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free baking flour may be freely substituted for white all-purpose flour (and vise versa) with no discernable detriment to taste or texture.

Gluten-free financiers

• 1/3 cup gluten-free flour (see note, above)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds, depending on the texture you are going for
• pinch of salt
• 4 large egg whites, room temp
• splash vanilla
• 4 oz melted butter, cooled

Preheat your oven to 400 deg F and brush a little of the melted butter into your molds (again, see note, above). Sift together the dry ingredients. Whisk in the egg whites and add the rest of the melted butter (make sure the egg whites and butter are at room temperature or you will have a mess on your hands).  Finally, add the vanilla. Transfer the batter to some sort of pouring receptacle with a lip on it, and let it sit and marinate for about five minutes. When the time is up, whisk it all together one last time and fill your molds almost to the top (I usually get 24 or so). Bake for about 15 minutes, turning the pan once mid-way through.

The resulting cakes are pretty damn fine. We like them plain and slightly warm, but they can be dusted with powdered sugar and served as an accompaniment to ice cream or fruit or anything else you like.

Silicon financier mold (Fabrique en France!):
no reasonable offer refused