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Money, Art, & Multi-Tasking: Earl Grey Green Financiers

March 22, 2016 by Margaret 22 Comments

3Shares
served with lemon curd because it looks prettier also tastes pretty good

Served with lemon curd because it looks prettier. Also tastes pretty good, in case you were wondering.

I was talking with a friend of mine tonight, Ken, an artist who is currently living in…somewhere in South East Asia. I lose track of his travels. I actually had to say to him, “Remind me, which country are you in right now?” (It’s Cambodia, btw.) Anyway, as I’m chatting away with him on Facebook, I’m also popping in trays of delicious French financiers into the oven, and pulling out (and sampling!) more trays of these golden-domed treats.

What are these delicious, buttery things I write of? Well, the origins of financiers are a bit murky. Some say that they are called financiers because of the financial types who used to eat them on their hurried coffee breaks; the buttery almond treat could be held in a hand and quickly gobbled in between weighty financial transactions.  Others say that the financier is named such because when baked in the traditional shape, they resemble gold bullion bars.

How did I find this out? Two words! Well, three, actually. Dorie Greenspan. And Wikipedia! My baking group is baking Matcha Financiers from Dorie’s Baking Chez Moi cookbook this week, and she talks about the origins of the treat in her recipe intro. And then I wikipedia’d it too, because that’s how I roll.

"It's not easy being green...."

“It’s not easy being green….”

Dorie takes the traditional financier recipe and gives it a bit of an Eastern twist, with the introduction of Matcha powder. I, of course, having no matcha powder or the inclination to go shopping for any, replaced the Matcha tea in the recipe with ground Earl Grey Green tea, of which I had plenty. Hey, it’s green! Close enough? Eh, it’ll do.

The recipe calls for only egg whites to be used, which makes the financiers all crisp and light, despite the heaviness of the almond flour that is also used. The way I look at it, the low-fat egg whites balance out the caloric effect of the butter that is added into the batter mixture.

Once the batter is all mixed up, into the fridge it goes for an hour, before being baked until golden and crispy. And this time I actually did let it rest for an hour in the fridge, as I was using the oven to bake some oatmeal bread. I was running around like a headless chicken in the kitchen tonight, trying to make dinner, lunches for tomorrow, oatmeal & Greek yoghurt bread, plus these financiers. And then given that I had so many egg yolks leftover from making the financiers, I decided to make some lemon curd. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound! And in this case, a load of dishes. Which I plan to leave for tomorrow. Or the DH. (Possibly both.)

What do I think of the financiers? Well, given that I’ve never had them before, it’s hard to know why they don’t knock my socks off. Is it the addition of the Earl Grey Green powder instead of the Matcha powder? Or is it just that the flavour isn’t what I was expecting? Maybe both. I think if the butter had been browned the way that it often is, I might like it more. Or if the tea flavour was either stronger, or not present at all. The faint bergamot flavour of the Earl Grey Green tea is nice and all, but…it’s just too vague. I like my treats with some oomph! And/or chocolate.

I like my greens powdered. With butter. And carbs. #nottrue #saladforever #veg4life

I like my greens powdered. With butter. And carbs. #nottrue #saladforever #veg4life

I’m typing this post while sitting on my couch with my laptop, as I often do, taking a break from my kitchen-chicken ways. Hanging on the wall across from me is a framed print of one of Ken’s watercolours. I have to say, having real art on my walls makes me feel so grown-up! (Because mere age isn’t enough to do that on it’s own, obvs.) Using tea in my baking also makes me feel grown-up. Next time, though, I think I’ll use one of Dorie’s Bonne Idees, and add in chopped chocolate to the batter. Chocolate Everything may not be a terribly grown-up flavour profile, but it is one that I’ll happily nom on. Don’t worry, Chocolate, you’ll always be my favourite!

Next Post: Parmesan & Paprika Potato Wedges. Or another Dinner Roll Odyssey Post. Mmm, carby carbs! All I need now is some chocolate. 🙂

3Shares

Filed Under: Cook-a-Longs R Us

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nicole @ The 2nd 35 Years

    March 22, 2016 at 10:26 am

    I almost made mine with a different type of tea, but decided to go for it. Yours look lovely and I am sure are delicious with lemon curd. Yum! (And yes, the chocolate made it better)

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 22, 2016 at 7:48 pm

      Oooh, you made the tiger cakes version? Very cool! Am going to check out your post right now!

      Reply
  2. Cher

    March 22, 2016 at 11:26 am

    Sounds like you made very good use of your time (and your ingredients).

    The financiers look delicious with the lemon curd.

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 22, 2016 at 7:48 pm

      Thanks, Cher! I’m having a much less kitchen-chicken day today, so it all makes up for it!

      Reply
  3. Ryan

    March 22, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    Earl Grey and Lemon Curd sound like a tasty combination! Great idea!

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 22, 2016 at 7:47 pm

      Thanks, Ryan!

      Reply
  4. Amy

    March 22, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    Love the addition of the lemon curd. (After we used our yolks to make ice cream we realized we could have made lemon curd.)

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 22, 2016 at 7:47 pm

      Oooh, ice cream! Great idea. Ice Cream Everything is also a flavour combo that I love!

      Reply
  5. Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)

    March 22, 2016 at 7:48 pm

    Plain financiers with a fresh raspberry will always be my faves….

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 22, 2016 at 7:52 pm

      I think that sounds lovely! A nice financier made with browned butter and topped with a fresh raspberry sounds just right for a spring treat!

      Reply
  6. Zosia

    March 22, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    Green tea and citrus is such a nice combination; I think your financiers probably tasted quite lovely.

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 23, 2016 at 12:02 am

      Thanks, Zosia!

      Reply
  7. Nana

    March 23, 2016 at 12:06 am

    A busy lady for sure. Everything looks wonderful, especially the lemon curd in the financiers.

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 23, 2016 at 12:09 am

      Aw, thanks!

      Reply
  8. Shirley (Flourishen Test Kitchen)

    March 23, 2016 at 3:34 am

    It sounds like your financiers are long on interesting flavor like Earl Grey. You are also long on creativity. Addition of chocolate might be what these cakes need.

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 24, 2016 at 1:27 am

      Thanks so much, Shirley! 🙂 And yes…CHOCOLATE!!!!

      Reply
  9. Cakelaw

    March 23, 2016 at 7:56 am

    Margaret, I am with you – your tea was green and it was powdered – close enough for the amount we needed. Your financiers look great – love the curd.

    Reply
  10. sanya

    March 23, 2016 at 10:58 am

    Wow! I wasn’t a fan of the original recipe but these sure look good!

    Reply
  11. Summer

    March 23, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    What a lovely pairing of Earl Grey and lemon curd. They look and sound absolutely scrumptious!

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 24, 2016 at 1:27 am

      Thanks, Summer!

      Reply
  12. jora

    March 29, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    It’s hard to go wrong by adding more chocolate! I hope you left the dishes for the DH. That’s always my plan 🙂

    Reply
    • Margaret

      March 30, 2016 at 2:06 am

      I DID leave the dishes for the DH! Tee hee hee.

      Reply

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