Just in time for the holiday season, today is a start of something new on our journal. We launch a new inspirational column involving cooking, styling and eating. Yum! Making and designing ceramic dinnerware for our brand and for our lovely customers, we’re bound to love eating and cooking. Every piece of table and serving ware we design is tested for size and presentation before it goes into production. So naturally we cook and we try out our products at home. We don’t claim to be chefs, but we do love to share a good meal with friends, cooked with love and attention and we sure love to present it in style with nicely designed wares be it our own or some we’ve collected along the years. So get your aprons ready and enjoy our very first recipe.

Much love,
Julie & Jesse

Whilst Jesse has a sweet tooth and loves candies, we’re both savouries lovers. We don’t often bake or prepare desserts at home – only for our guests or to learn the chemistry involved in baking which is much like making ceramics. But we do have a soft spot for berries and this large financier is one of our favourite secret weapon to finish off a good dinner. It’s a piece of cake to prepare, it’s light, moist, yet a little crispy, and trust us, even if you’re full, you won’t be able to keep your hands off it.

The secret to a good financier is in the browning of the butter which gives it a delightful nutty flavour. Another tip is to begin cooking the cake in a very hot oven to make the crust and then reduce the temperature to keep the cake moist. The traditional financier comes plain but we’re sure you’ll love this berry-packed one.

Usually financiers are prepared as small rectangular loaves which resemble a bar of gold which is one of the many stories behind the name of the cake. We prefer to make large ones to share with friends and family. So today we decided to share our recipe with you along with images captured during our afternoon of dinner preparation.

FOR BERRY LOVERS

Any berry goes. Stuff the financier with those you love the most or a mix. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants will do just fine.

FOR GREEN TEA LOVERS

Scrap the berries and add around 60g of matcha green tea powder in the mix. It’ll be delicious served with berry ice cream or lemon jam on the side.

This recipe yields one large financier for about 6-8 portions. The preparation will take you around 20 minutes and the cooking time will be around twenty five minutes to half an hour depending on your oven. Use a, round, square or rectangular mould large enough so that when you pour your mixture in, it’s not higher then about 2.5 cm.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

200g of butter
4 egg whites
160g of icing sugar
60g of flour
80g of ground almonds
150-200 g of raspberries, blackberries or whichever you fancy

Alternatively you can even leave the berries and make it with green tea powder.

METHOD

Preheat the oven at 170°C

On very low heat, melt the butter in a pan until you get a “beurre noisette” or brown butter – amber color, smell of hazelnut, but don’t let it burn…

Lightly whisk the egg whites.

Mix the flour, icing sugar and ground almonds and then pour the mix onto the egg whites whilst continuing to whisk.

TIP

If you’re making the green tea version add the tea powder to the flour, sugar and almond mix.

Slowly stir in the melted butter and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a mould that you will have previously buttered, and then place your berries into the mixture.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the financier is golden brown.

TIP

Stick a knife in the cake; if it comes out moist and with dough on it then it’s not ready to take out of the oven. The knife needs to come out clean of any uncooked mixture.

Remove from the oven and leave the baked financier in the mould to cool.

Once cool turn the financier out on a wire rack and lightly dust it with sifted icing sugar.

We hope you’ll enjoy our very first recipe.