Sickly Monday - Blueberry and Blackberry Financiers

Oh no i think.. i think.. its coming.. my head is spinning.. my body is feeling a little weak.. probably its the time of the month but again i know my body far too well .. something aint right .. am glad that i have baked mac shells yesterday for wed order or else..... will hv to take it easy for the next couple of days so that i can be fit for coming weekends' orders..

Hi everyone.. how was the weekend? did anything out of the ordinary?? for us its same old same old thing.. Yesterday was a full on day at home.. i woke up early to cook lontong.. ayam masak merah, sambal goreng and also prepared putri salat for breakkie.. baked mac shells in the afternoon followed by this super duper simple Friands.. hubs helped me clean our place and by 4pm the temp maid that hubs hired came by to iron some of the laundry that by then looked like 3x Mount Faber lol.. Anyway after 4hrs.. she only managed to finish half of it.. "shrug"...

Friand Pastry aka Financier.. i usually will bake it whenever i hv fresh berries in my fridge.. in this case. i did it bec i had all the ingredients right infront of my nose.. not complicated at all.. no need any mixer.. just use a fork to whisk ur egg white for 30 sec.. use ur spatula to add all the other ingredients .. bake it and voila.. u got urself something to munch in the evening..

Ingredients
100g butter (i use unsalted butter and added a pinch of salt)
4 large egg whites (abt 120g)
45g (1/4 cup plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) plain flour
140g (1 cup) pure icing sugar
85g (2/3 cup, lightly pressed into the cup with the back of a spoon) almond meal
About 40g (about 30 large) blueberries/blackberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
Extra icing sugar, for dusting

Method

- Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (170 degrees Celsius fan-forced). If you are not using a fan-forced oven, adjust the oven rack to the middle position so the friands brown evenly.

- Grease a six hole (1/3 cup capacity holes) non-stick oval friand pan, or six individual 1/3 cup capacity friand pans. If you don't have a friand pan, you could use a muffin pan with 1/3 cup capacity holes. (I used 1/4 cup of batter on each and get 9 friands)

- Melt butter and set aside to cool to lukewarm - i let it boil till my melted butter turned a little brown.

- In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with a fork or whisk until foamy (about 30 seconds)

- Sift flour, icing sugar and almond meal into the bowl with the egg whites

- Stir ingredients together until just combined.

- Add the melted butter to the bowl and stir until just combined.

- Divide mixture evenly among the holes of the prepared pan. Place about five blueberries in a cluster in the centre of each friand.

- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the friands are a light golden colour and spring back when lightly pressed. A thin-bladed knife or wooden skewer inserted into the centre of a friand should come out without any raw-looking batter attached.

- Remove friands from the oven and allow to stand in the pan for five minutes.

-Run a knife around the outside of each friand to loosen before turning them out. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar, or place on a wire rack to cool.

-Store cooled friands in an airtight container at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator. To serve, bring to room temperature or warm in the microwave, and then dust liberally with icing sugar

"A financier is a small French cake, often mistaken for a pastry. The financier is a light, moist teacake, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. The basis of the cake itself is beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites, powdered sugar and flour. Financiers are often baked in shaped molds. The name "financier" is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding La Bourse du Commerce (the former name of the Paris stock exchange).

Financiers are often served topped with whipped cream, berries, or other fruit, and served accompanied by ice cream or other frozen confections. Financier pans are traditionally rectangular; however, other shapes are not uncommon." wikipedia

Have a good week peeps and stay healthy..