Coffee Financier Cakes with Orange Mascarpone and Toasted Hazelnuts

Wed, 13 April 2022

Aoife Noonan's Coffee Financier Cakes with Orange Mascarpone and Toasted Hazelnuts

(Makes 9)

Ingredients:

For the Coffee Financiers:

95g Butter

50g Ground Almonds

90g Icing Sugar

35g Plain Flour

2 Egg Whites

2tsp Coffee Extract

 

For the Orange Mascarpone:

250g Mascarpone

Zest of 1 Orange

2tbsp Icing Sugar

1tsp Milk or Cream

 

To Finish:

15g Hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

 

Method:

For the Coffee Financiers:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C or 170C if using a fan oven. Grease nine small rectangular moulds, or 12 miniature muffin tins.

2. Make the brown butter by placing the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat to melt. Cook the butter for until the butter starts to foam. Swirl the pan, and when the butter starts to smell nutty and you can see the colour of the butter on the bottom of the pan turn a medium brown colour, remove from the heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Pour the browned butter through a sieve into a bowl or jug and set aside.

3. Put the ground almonds in a mixing bowl and sift in the icing sugar and flour. Add the egg whites and beat together until smooth.

4. Add in the browned butter and coffee extract and whisk well until smooth.

5. Leave the Financier batter to rest for 5 minutes.

6. Scrape the batter into a jug or piping bag and pour or pipe the batter into the moulds until half full.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes for small Financiers baked in a mini muffin tin, or 20-25 minutes if baked in a rectangular mould. The cakes should have a slightly golden crisp exterior and fluffy centre. Check the Financiers are baked by inserting a skewer into the centre of each, and if it comes out clean, they are baked.

8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for five minutes in the mould. Turn the Financiers out and leave to cool.

 

For the Orange Mascarpone:

1. Beat all of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Add a little milk or cream to loosen if very thick. Spoon the mascarpone into a piping bag and pipe onto the Financiers.

 

To Finish:

1. Sprinkle chopped toasted hazelnuts on top of the finished Financiers to serve.