The story behind the writer’s go-to financier cake recipe includes a Parisian neighbor and a psychic.
Tina Isaac-Goizé’s connection to her French roots is as rich and layered as the pastries she adores. The Paris-based writer has tried virtually every pastry and dessert imaginable, from classic bakery croissants to traditional, homemade cakes. Her ultimate confection—a financier cake—comes with a sweet story. The almond-forward recipe landed in her hands after her friend “got it from her neighbor in Paris—a psychic, as it happens—who got it from his grandmother many decades earlier,” Isaac-Goizé tells Family Style.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup flour (“I use cornstarch to make it gluten-free”)
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 4 egg whites
- 5 ounces sea-salt butter (or half-salted), softened or half-melted
- Vanilla (as much as you like)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 460 degrees.
- In one bowl, mix a generous cup of sugar, ⅔ cup flour—I use cornstarch to make it gluten-free—1 cup ground almonds, 4 egg whites, 5 ounces softened or half-melted butter, and vanilla to taste.
- Mix until well blended but not overly smooth; it should be thick.
- Pour into a buttered, parchment-lined pan (otherwise it will stick) and give it a little jostle to even out.
- Put on medium rack or one notch down.
- Bake approximately 15 minutes, slightly less if you like it gooey in the middle.
- Check after 10 minutes; if needed, cover to keep the surface from over-browning.
- Serve warm or cool, with berries, creme fraiche, a dusting of powdered sugar—anything goes!