Hazelnut Financier With Plum Compote And Creme Fraiche Recipes

HAZELNUT FINANCIERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush 24 cups of mini tart pans with butter; dust lightly with flour, tapping out excess. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When it begins to sizzle, reduce heat to medium. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until butter is browned and fragrant. Skim foam from top, leaving liquid butter behind; remove from heat and let cool.
• Whisk to combine flour, ground hazelnuts, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add egg whites, and whisk until smooth. Stir in brandy. Pour in cooled butter, leaving any dark brown sediment in skillet; whisk to combine. Let batter stand at room temperature 20 minutes or, covered, up to 1 day.
• Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of batter into each prepared cup, filling each about two-thirds full. Place pans on baking sheets and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes before unmolding.
• Heat jam in a small saucepan over medium, stirring, until melted. Let cool 5 minutes, then brush some over each cake. Place 1 hazelnut on top. Cookies are best served the same day they are baked.

PLUM-AND-CREME-FRAICHE PIE

Steps:

• Pate Sucree: Pulse flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Pulse in egg yolk. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream just until dough holds together. Turn dough out onto a work surface; shape into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Streusel: Whisk together confectioners' sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9 1/2- or 10-inch pie dish (about 1 1/2 inches deep). Using kitchen shears or a paring knife, trim to a 1-inch overhang; fold under. Crimp edges as desired. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Freeze 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in lower third. Line dough with parchment, pressing it into corners and edges; fill with dried beans or rice. Bake, covered with foil, 20 minutes. Remove beans or rice and parchment (keep edges covered with foil). Bake until pale golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.
• Filling: In a medium bowl, gently toss together plums, granulated sugar, and salt; let stand 15 minutes. Spread 2 tablespoons creme fraiche onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with one-third of streusel. Arrange plums on top; spread or dot with remaining 3 tablespoons creme fraiche. Sprinkle with remaining streusel.
• Bake until creme fraiche is bubbling and streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes (if edges of crust are browning too quickly, tent with foil). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

HAZELNUT AND BUCKWHEAT FINANCIERS WITH FIGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast hazelnuts on a large rimmed baking sheet until skins are slightly darkened and split, 12-15 minutes. Let cool, then bundle in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove skins (there will definitely be some stubborn pieces that refuse to come off-do what you can). Transfer to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Whisk hazelnuts, powdered sugar, buckwheat flour, and salt in a medium bowl to combine.
• Cook butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it foams, then browns (be careful not to let it burn), 5-7 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Whisk egg whites in a medium bowl until foamy (you're not trying to create volume; you just want to break them up), then whisk into dry ingredients. Whisk in brown butter. Cover and chill batter until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Reheat oven to 350°F. Generously coat six 4-oz. fluted financier molds or a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray. Divide batter among molds (use about 1/3 cup batter per mold, or 2 mounded Tbsp. if using a muffin pan). Top with figs (if using) and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake until tops are browned and edges are firm, 20-25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let financiers cool 10 minutes in pans before turning out onto racks. Let cool completely.
• Batter can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

HAZELNUT FINANCIERS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush 24 cups of mini tart pad with pam with flour. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When it begins to sizzle, reduce heat to medium. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until butter is browned and fragrant. Skim foam from top, leaving liquid behind; remove from heat and let cool. 2. whisk to combine flour, ground hazelnuts, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add egg whites and whisk until smooth. Stir in brandy. Pour in cooled butter, whisk to combine. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes or, covered up to 1 day. 3. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of batter into each prepared cup, filling each about two thirds full. Place pans on baking sheets and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes before unmolding. 4. Heat jam in a small saucepan over medium, stirring until melted. Let cool 5 minutes, then brush some over each cake. Place 1 hazelnut on top.

PLUM COMPOTE

Steps:

• Combine the sugar, wine, one cup of water, cloves, cinnamon and lemon zest in a saucepan large enough to hold the plums. Bring the ingredients to a boil, and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• Add plums, and bring mixture back to a boil; lower heat, and simmer plums for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on their ripeness, until they are tender but still hold their shape. Some plums will be ready before others; remove them as they are. Then when they are all cooked, return the plums to the syrup, remove from heat and let cool.
• Chill plums in the syrup. Serve over vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt with some of the syrup, or serve with their syrup topped with whipped cream or creme fraiche.