Almond Financier Tartlets Recipes

FINANCIERS (FRENCH ALMOND TEA CAKES)

Steps:

• Preheat your oven on 160'C/325'F and grease a Financier Pan (see note 1). Optionally, flour the pan too.
• Mak the Brown Butter: place your butter in a small saucepan and turn on low to medium low heat. Cook until the butter has completely melted and starts to get foamy. Keep on cooking, occasionally stirring, the melted butter starts to turn golden and releases a nutty aroma, and you can see small brown specks at the bottom of the saucepan (see note 2). It should take about 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool down.
• In a large bowl, sift together the Flour, Almond Meal, Icing Sugar and Salt. Mix to combine.
• In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the Egg Whites until slightly froathy (see note 3).
• Add the cooled Brown Butter, Egg Whites and Vanilla to the dry ingredients. Whisk until just combined.
• Place the batter in a piping bag and pipe into a Financier Pan (or simply spoon/scoop it). Spread with the back of a spoon if needed, then top with Flaked Almonds (optional).
• Bake for about 20min, or until lightly golden. Take out of the oven and leave for about 10 minutes before removing from the financier pan (see note 4). Leave on a cooling rack until cold

ALMOND FINANCIER TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until butter turns golden brown. Strain through a fine sieve; discard solids. Let cool.
• Whisk together flours, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Beat whites until soft peaks form. Fold in flour mixture, browned butter, rum, and vanilla.
• Coat twelve 2 3/8-inch round tart pans with cooking spray; transfer to a baking sheet. Divide batter evenly among tart shells, filling each to the top. Sprinkle each with almond slices, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 13 minutes. Brush each with jam, and let cool.

ALMOND TARTLETS RECIPE

Steps:

• Set the oven to gas mark 6 or 200°C.
• Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface. Using cutter, cut pastry to line bun-tray holes, re-rolling pastry as necessary.
• Mix the jam in a small bowl until it's runny, and then place a very small amount in the base of each pastry case, smearing it out to cover the base.
• Beat the butter so it's really soft, then add sugar, ground almonds, egg yolk and almond extract. Beat until smooth, then divide mixture between pastry cases, spreading it out slightly. Sprinkle flaked almonds on top.
• Bake tartlets in the centre of the oven for 10 mins, then reduce oven temperature to gas mark 2 or 150°C, and cook for a further 10-15 mins, or until they are a light-golden colour.
• Remove the tartlets from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

DIANE'S ALMOND TARTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Shape into a ball and refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, cut into appropriate size circles with a glass or cookie cutter and press into tart shells. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into bottom of each shell.
• In a large bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in rice flour and cocoa powder. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons almond extract. Fill tarts 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and filling is set. Allow to cool.
• In a small bowl, Stir together 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Spread on tarts. Garnish each tart with a maraschino cherry.

APPLE FINANCIER TART

Steps:

• Make the financier batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the butter until it begins to brown and has a nutty fragrance, about three minutes. Set aside to cool. Put the slivered almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground, about 45 seconds. Transfer the ground almonds to a medium bowl. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the almonds. Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt and gently whist to combine. Combine the egg whites, honey, cooled browned butter, and cream in another medium bowl. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean (reserve the pod for another use) into the bowl and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Set aside.
• Make the apple filling: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook until it is golden brown and fragment, about five minutes. Add to the diced apples and honey and cook, stirring occasionally, for two minutes or until the apples are slightly softened. Add the Calvados to the skillet, carefully light it with a match, and cook until the flame dies. Drain the apples in a strainer set over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Stir the reserved liquid back into the diced apples. Pour the apple mixture into the tart shell and spread it into an even layer. Scrape the financier batter over the apples, covering them completely. Bake the tart for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the tart on a wire rack.
• Glaze the tart: Put the honey in a heatproof glass measure and microwave on high for 10 to 15 seconds, until hot. (Or, heat in a small saucepan.) Brush the honey over the top of the hot tart. Cool the tart completely before serving.

ALMOND-ORANGE FINANCIER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush the inside of a 13 1/2-by-4-inch tart pan that has a nonremovable bottom with melted butter; transfer to freezer.
• Using a food processor, pulse almonds until finely ground. In a large bowl, combine ground almonds, confectioners' sugar, flour, salt, and orange zest. Add egg whites, and whisk to combine. Slowly stir in butter.
• Remove tart pan from freezer. Pour batter into pan; place on a baking sheet. Bake until dough just begins to rise, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees and continue baking 7 to 8 minutes more, until financier begins to brown. Turn off oven, and let cake stand in oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Invert financier onto rack; reinvert, and slice into 6 pieces. Garnish top with candied orange peel, and dust with confectioners' sugar.

TOASTED ALMOND-COCONUT FINANCIERS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup mini-muffin tin.
• On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out the coconut and almond flour, side by side. Toast until both are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway through and keeping a close watch at the end. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool slightly.
• Use your fingertips to grind the coconut with the almond flour to break it down into small pieces. Add the sugar, flour and salt, and whisk to combine.
• Whisk in the egg whites and almond extract, then the melted butter.
• Divide the batter evenly among the greased cups. (A small cookie scoop makes easy work of this task.) Tap the pan on the countertop to smooth the tops.
• Bake until the cakes spring back when pressed gently in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Pop them out of the tin, using a small offset spatula or knife to loosen the edges if needed, and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
• Melt the chocolate and oil together in a small bowl in short, 10-second bursts in the microwave, stirring between each. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate and oil over a double boiler on the stove.)
• Dip half of each financier in the chocolate and set on a rack until set, at least 30 minutes.

ALMOND MERINGUE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Place 1/2 teaspoon jam or jelly in each tart shell and bake in hot oven at 450 until shells are half-bake about 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Combine ground almonds and icing sugar. add almond flavouring to egg and beat well. Worl beaten egg into sugar mixture.
• Place a tablespoon of filling into each tart shell.
• Bake at 350 for 7 to 10 minutes or until delicately browned.

RAISIN AND ALMOND TARTLETS

Steps:

• Lightly butter 30 mini-muffin cups. Roll out crust on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Using floured 2 3/4- to 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps and reroll, cutting out additional rounds for total of 30. Press each dough round firmly over bottom and up sides of prepared mini-muffin cups. Freeze 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crusts until golden, occasionally pressing on bottom and sides of crusts with spoon if crusts bubble and slide down sides of cups, about 25 minutes. Transfer pans to rack and cool crusts in pans while making filling. Maintain oven temperature.
• Combine raisins, Sherry, 2 tablespoons water, and pinch of salt in heavy small saucepan. Bring to boil. Remove from heat; let stand uncovered until liquid is almost absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir cream into raisin mixture; bring to boil. Remove from heat. Whisk eggs, sugar, 1 tablespoon oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot raisin-cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until mixture thickens slightly to sauce consistency, about 6 minutes (do not boil). Spoon raisin custard into tartlet crusts, dividing equally. Bake tartlets until filling is just barely set but still moves slightly in center when pans are shaken gently, about 10 minutes. Cool completely in pans on rack. Run small sharp knife around crust edges to loosen; gently remove from pans. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)
• Toss almonds with remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil in small bowl. Top each tartlet with 1 almond and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Place tartlets on plates and serve.