Matcha financiers

A classic French pastry much loved by the Japanese, financiers can be found in bakeries all over Tokyo in flavours of butter and matcha (green tea).

Credit: Alana Dimou

• makes

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 35 g (1¼ oz) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 10 g (¼ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 13 g (½ oz) almond meal
• 3 g (1/10 oz) matcha (green tea powder)
• 40 g (1½ oz) egg white (approximately 1 egg)
• 30 g (1 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
• 10 g (¼ oz) honey

Chilling time: 2 hours or overnight

Instructions

1. Fill a large bowl with cold water. In a small saucepan, preferably one with a light-coloured bottom, melt the butter over low heat. As the butter begins to foam, swirl the pan so it cooks evenly. Continue to cook the melted butter until it turns from golden brown to nut-brown, then remove from the heat. Place the base of the pan in the bowl of cold water to immediately stop the butter browning further. Strain the browned butter into a bowl to remove any dark sediment, then set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Sift the flour, almond meal and matcha powder together three times. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white and sugar together. Add the dry mixture and whisk to combine, then stir in the browned butter and honey.
3. Cover the financier batter with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a financier tin with a little bit of butter. Pour the refrigerated batter into the holes of the tin and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of a financier comes out clean. Allow the financiers to cool before removing them from the tin.

 

Recipe from Tokyo Local by Caryn Liew and Brendan Liew, Smith Street Books, RRP $39.99

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.