Almond Financier with Rosemary Scented Pears

makes 9 hockey puck-sized cakes, but you can keep the batter refrigerated and bake only as many as needed. I used these molds:

Matfer 12-Fluted Tin Brioche Mold, 2-3/4-Inch by-1-Inch, 25-Pack

or use muffin tins:

Farberware 52106 Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan

The special flavor of these cakes completely depends on browning the butter well.

For the financier:
1 stick (4 oz, or 112 g) unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups (200 g) powdered sugar
1/3 cup (42 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (42 g) almond flour 
4 large (about 1/2 cup, or  125 ml) egg whites

For the pears:
a quick glug, about 1 tablespoon canola oil
4 ripe bartlett pears
1/2 cup (125 ml) honey
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 cup white port or white wine

If you’re feelin’ fancy, these are optional additions:
chocolate sauce, found in this post
chopped almonds
vanilla ice cream, either home made or store bought. I like Haagen Dazs. This would also go well with this ginger ice cream
rosemary leaves, for ganish

For the batter

1. In a large bowl, stir up the powdered sugar, flour and almond flour.

2. Pour on the egg whites, and whisk it all up until smooth.

3. Park the butter in a small, light-colored pot (so it’s easy to see the browning taking place), over high heat and watch it melt. Keep it cookin’. The goal is to brown it. We’re looking for a chestnut brown. The house will begin to have a very pleasant, nutty aroma, and you may think you’re in a bakery. That’s when it’s done.

This will take about 5-7 minutes. The butter will release a lot of foam that will float on the surface, and it will be hard to see the butter color. You can either swirl the pan around, until you get a glimpse of how brown the butter really is, or scoop some up with a spoon. Be careful, because the time between perfectly brown, and burned is short. If your butter starts smoking, it’s too far gone.

4. Slowly pour the hot butter into the bowl, whisking all the while. You’ll notice some soot that settled in the bottom of the pot. These remains are the burned milk solids and they are what give the cooked butter it’s coloring. You don’t want those in your batter. Once you reach this sediment, stop pouring.

Note: Because there are no leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda, this batter keeps well refrigerated. If you like, you can keep this for days (about 4) and bake the cakes when you need them, which makes this a great make ahead dessert.

Make the pears

These are best made the day you plan to serve and they can even sit around for a couple of hours.

1. First, peel those pears, then cut the meat off all 4 sides, close to the core. They don’t have to be perfect in shape, of course, but try not get any of the core in your pieces. It’s too unpleasant to accidently bite into.

2. Heat a saute pan over high heat, pour in a quick dribble of canola oil, and throw in the pear pieces. Hopefully the pan was hot enough to give off a big sizzle. Don’t move the pears for about 30 seconds. Some of the pear surfaces will get nice sear marks. Then toss them around for a couple of minutes more before adding the honey.

3. Add the honey and the rosemary sprigs. Stir it all up. The pears will release their juices, and everything will look watery at first. Cook for a few minutes, about 5-7, until some of the liquid evaporates and the pears start to take on a glazed look. If you shake the pears in the pan, you can see that the sides start to look dry. Not much liquid pools up at the edge if you tilt the pan.

Test a couple of pieces with a paring knife to check for tenderness. The knife should slide in without much resistance. If the pears are still too hard, add a little more honey (2 tablespoons), and keep cooking until they become tender and the liquid evaporates away again.

5. Once the pears are tender to your preference, pour in the wine for some more yum, and wait for the alcohol to cook off — about a minute. If it catches a flame, don’t be alarmed. It will subside in a minute and you can now consider yourself a flambé expert.

Into a bowl it all goes. Now it can cool, and hang out on the counter until your ready to serve.

Bake the financiers

1. These can be baked up to a couple of hours before serving. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spread out the molds. I used fluted molds, about 2.5 inches in diameter. You don’t have to use fluted molds. That’s just what I happened to have. You can use muffin cups. Spoon the batter in until they are half-way filled. If you are using muffin cups, fill them about 1/2 inch high.

2. Bake until they’re golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Mine took 20 minutes, but this will depend on the size of your mold. Just watch out for nice coloring, and that they’re not still wet and raw on top. Once baked, let them cool.

3. Slice the pears and fan them out on top of the cakes. You can also serve with ice cream.

If you’d like to do a restaurant-style plating, see here.