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Traditional Pistachio Financier Recipe

Sliced pistachio financier with the stacked cakes and a cup on a background.

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5 from 17 reviews

Pistachio financiers are little French almond cakes made with ground pistachios, brown butter, and beaten egg whites. They are perfect for morning coffee and afternoon tea and are a great lunch box idea.

Ingredients

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For the batter:

  • 1/3 cup + 4 teaspoons (40 g) almond flour (ground almonds)
  • 2/3 cup + 4 1/2 tablespoons (120 g) powdered (icing) sugar 
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (70 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2.6 oz (75 g) ground raw pistachios
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 5.3 oz (150 g) unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup (160 g) egg whites, room temperature (see note #3)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (20 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt

For the decoration: 

  • chopped raw pistachios

* If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. To make the brown butter, melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. Once it is ready (look for the brown color, hazelnut smell, and brown solids at the bottom of the pan), pour the butter into another bowl to stop cooking. Let it cool to room temperature (leave dark bits will in the butter).
  2. To make the batter, place almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, powdered (icing) sugar, and ground pistachios in a bowl and mix with a hand whisk or an electric mixer. Pour the brown butter and mix with a rubber spatula
  3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with granulated sugar and a pinch of salt with an electric mixer for 20-30 seconds. Egg whites have to be slightly mounted. Divide the whites into three parts.
  4. Add the first part of egg whites to the main preparation and mix well with a hand whisk. Add the second and the third parts of whites, each time vigorously mixing with the whisk. Cover the batter with a plastic film on contact and refrigerate for one hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Using a pastry bag or a spoon, fill each cavity of a financier mold up to 2/3 and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Bake cakes for 12 minutes. Let them cool for 3-5 minutes, and take cakes from the mold.

Notes

  1. 160 g egg whites, approximately equal to 5 1/2 raw fresh egg whites from medium size chicken eggs.
  2. Consult the brown butter recipe for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.
  3. Multiply all the ingredients by 1.5 and bake financiers in a mini muffin pan. Butter and flour each cavity and increase the baking time, adding a few more minutes.
  4. Replace chopped pistachios with 1 to 3 fresh raspberries to place on top of each financier before baking. 

Nutrition

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