Raspberry and Basil financiers

Recently I was invited to a French Glace Cherries Masterclass in London where Cindy from Food For Thoughts showed us how to make French glacé cherries Jelly Cakes and French glace cherry and pistachio financiers. We also got to sample some lovely treats made with glacé cherries which Cindy prepared for us to sample throughout the afternoon. 

The inspiration for this recipe came from the financiers we made. I had a lot of leftover egg whites after making custard for my custard crumble cake so I decided to make financiers. As it's nearing Valentine's, I chose to make raspberry and basil financiers after seeing it on BBC Good Food.  

This is a slightly unusual combination of flavours but I thought it worked really well. It was definitely not to everyone's taste though particularly the basil. The cake itself is light and nutty and the tart raspberries paired well with the basil. The heart shapes look cute and are perfect for a delicious Valentine treat. 

I'm sending this to a few challenges this month. 

Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to make everything from scratch.

Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Chinese and Romantic Inspired Recipes with Herbs. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Loved Ones. 

Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes and Laura from Laura Loves Cakes. The theme this month is Oh L'Amour!

Four Seasons Food hosted by Anneli from Delicieux and Louisa from Eat Your Veg. The theme this month is 'Food from the Heart' 

A new challenge called Love Cake hosted by Jibber Jabber UK. The theme this month is Baking with Passion. 

Let's Cook Sweet Treats for Valentine hosted by Nayna from Simply Food. 

 cooking browned butter

 adding basil

 add raspberries before baking

Recipe is from BBC Good Food

Raspberry and pistachio financiers

I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages so I'm pleased that I finally got a chance to make them. I've seen financiers on a lot of blogs but have never made my own so when the letter for this month's AlphaBakes was chosen as 'R', I knew exactly what I was going to make. This is a recipe from Edd Kimber The Boy Who Bakes. I love the use of brown butter and pistachio in this recipe as it really makes this a special treat. The pistachios were really fragrant and paired well with the tart raspberries. The financiers were light, nutty and moist. An absolute treat! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which is hosted by myself this month and Caroline from Caroline Makes on alternate months. The letter is R for raspberries. 

I'm also sending these to Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes for Bookmarked Recipes as I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages.

As raspberries are in season, I think they will also fit in nicely for Simple and in Season hosted by Ren from Ren Behan.

This is my second entry to Four Seasons Food  challenge as raspberries are in season and these little treats are perfectly portable for a picnic. The theme is Picnic Food & Outdoor Nibbles. This challenge is hosted this month by Anneli from Delicieux and on alternate months by Louisa from Chez Foti.

I've just noticed that this month's One ingredient challenge is raspberries which is perfect for this recipe too! I've not participated for a few months so it's fortuitous that Nazima from Franglais Kitchen who is hosting this month chose raspberries for June. This challenge is co-hosted by Laura from How To Cook Good Food.

 pistachio nuts, ground almonds, raspberries 

 My lovely financier mould which has been sitting in my cupboard for months!

 ground pistachio nuts and icing sugar 

 ready to go in the oven 

 yum! 

Recipe reproduced with permission from the author

Makes 12
120g butter
100g pistachio nuts
120g icing sugar
50g ground almonds
50g flour
pinch of salt
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 raspberries
Icing sugar to serve

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Put the butter in a medium pan set over medium heat and cook swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a medium brown.
• Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve into a small bowl 
• Put the pistachio nuts and icing sugar into the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. 
• In a medium bowl mix together the pistachio nut mixture, almonds, flour and salt. 
• Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix together.
• Mix in the warmed brown butter a little at a time until combined.
• Divide the financier batter evenly between the muffin cups and top each with 2 raspberries, pushing them in slightly.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until springy to the touch and lightly browned around the edges. 
• Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely 
• Dust with icing sugar to serve.