Carrot and Almond Financiers with Poppy Seeds

Photo and styling by Béatrice Peltre

The French pastry called financier is a delicate and moist pastry typically made with almonds and brown butter (beurre noisette), which is browned to deepen the nutty flavor of the cake. In France, financiers are often baked in traditional small rectangular molds that resemble the shape of a bar of gold, but I like to bake mine in simple mini tartlet molds or even shallow cupcake molds. In this recipe, carrots are added to make it a fun variant of a classic French pâtisserie. Serve them with tea or coffee at any time of the day. Almonds can also be replaced with hazelnuts if you prefer. Note that my recipe here is gluten free but it does not have to be.

Makes 8–10 financiers

7 tablespoons (3½ ounces; 100g) unsalted butter + more for the molds
1 vanilla bean, split open lengthwise and seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)
½ cup (65g) almond meal
⅓ cup (65g) fine white rice flour
pinch of sea salt
½ cup (3½ ounces; 100 g) blond cane sugar
3 ounces (85g) finely grated carrots pulsed in a food processor
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
4 large egg whites, whisked with a fork until foamy
confectioners’ sugar, to serve

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter 8–10 shallow muffin molds; set aside. In a small pot, add the butter to melt and bring to a simmer. Cook until the butter becomes golden and it develops a nice nutty fragrance. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla bean and seeds. Set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.*

Meanwhile, combine the almond meal, white rice flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the carrots and poppy seeds. Add the egg whites and, using a whisk, beat vigorously until homogeneous. Strain the butter through a fine sieve over the batter and beat it in. Divide the batter among the molds and bake the financiers for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before unmolding. Dust with confectioners’ sugar to serve.

*You can reuse the vanilla bean to flavor a pot of sugar: Rinse it and pat it dry. Add to a pot filled with sugar.

This recipe appeared in the Fall 2023 issue as part of a larger story on Fall Carrots.