Double Chocolate Financier Cakes

Honestly? I was expecting to see a deeper, darker colour ... especially when these Financiers were baked using Valrhona cocoa. Obviously I messed up somewhere - I just don't know where! Sure, I was a little disappointed, but it just means I have got to bake these again, don't I? And that ain't such a bad thing. At all. :)

While making them, one thing came to mind - and that was the realisation that I did not eat a single Financier when I was in France. The horror!!! Ah, maybe next time, in the near future. :) *fingers crossed*

I first saw these Financiers on Sherie's blog - and hers looked so dark and rich - and they came to mind when I had leftover egg whites (yes, these cakes use only whites). I definitely have no regrets baking them, despite getting the "wrong" colour, because they were surprisingly moist. Tastewise, I think it would be most apt to describe it as the "nice (girl) version" of this naughty Flourless and Almond Chocolate Cake (which has 5 whole eggs).

SO. 'Fess up - do you prefer "naughty" or "nice" when it comes to desserts? ;)


Macarons have feet, Madeleines have humps, and Financiers have flat tops. That's French desserts for you. :)

Recipe
(from epicurious)

- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely ground blanched almonds (about 4 ounces)
- 4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped



1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans* with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper round. Melt 3/4 cup butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until light brown, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool.
* I used my Wilton mini-loaf pans.

2. Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk egg whites in large bowl to blend. Add sugar; whisk to blend. Whisk in corn syrup and vanilla. Add flour mixture; whisk just to blend. Add ground almonds; whisk just to blend. Using whisk, fold in browned butter, then chopped chocolate. Divide batter between prepared pans, smoothing tops.

3. Bake cakes until firm to touch and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cakes on rack 5 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off paper. Cool completely. Dust with icing sugar, if desired.

Vanilla Cupcakes With Blueberry Filling

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes. ♥
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Oops, I did it again ...

... second time in a week because these Vanilla Cupcakes are SO good. :) This round, just for fun, I swirled some blueberry sauce in. Verdict? I still prefer plain. My daughter and helper, though, really liked this version. Not surprising, since they thoroughly enjoyed the cream cheese/blueberry combo I made for Atayef.

Right now, I am looking for a light, not-too-buttery frosting to pair with these delightful cupcakes, and I have been told I should go with swiss meringue buttercream. So yes, that's on my to-do list. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, you can find the recipes for these cupcakes here:
- Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes
- Blueberry sauce

Have a good week ahead, everyone!


The "crime scene". Blueberry sauce everywhere!
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Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla heaven, is what these cupcakes are. I am telling you, these are my favourite cupcakes from now on! The intensity of vanilla was amazing and the texture, simply unbelievable. It was so good I wanted to cry, I kid you not. In fact, I tweeted it immediately because I just couldn't contain myself.

Now I finally get the hype surrounding these cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. They are so, so good! My only hope is that in the not-too-distant future, I will have the chance to taste the actual ones at Bleecker Street to see if I am on or off the mark. ;) Aside, one of my friends got to try them and loved them so much, she downed 3 at a go! I am so jealous. *sniff*


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Now, let's talk about the cupcakes. First, excuse my ugly, lumpy frosting! Boo hoo. I always, always frost the cupcakes immediately but this time, I had to refrigerate it for a short while to run an errand, and when I came back, some parts had hardened slightly. What a chore it was piping lumpy cream out of a pastry bag! :( But you know what? When I make these again, I will likely skip the frosting altogether because they good enough to be eaten plain. I am in love with the cake, not the cream. :)

To really pack the vanilla flavour in these cupcakes, you must use good quality vanilla. There is simply no other substitute. I used my precious homemade vanilla extract and sugar (which I love with all my heart) and the taste was exquisite.


They look simple, no? Wait till you taste them!
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Another thing, the frosting I used was plain ol' vanilla buttercream ... not the one from Magnolia Bakery. Their original recipe calls for a whopping 6 to 8 cups of icing sugar, and that was enough to make me recoil in horror.

Also, I have seen not-so-good feedback about it - "too sweet" being the most common one (ooh, what a shocker). So, I stuck to a regular buttercream frosting which, of course, did not wow me in the least. Why? Because I am just not fond of buttercream! But but but, a cupcake needs frosting to be photogenic, so what choice did I have? ;)

Anyway, I decided that for this post, I will only blog about the cake. You can choose whatever frosting you think will work for you, or follow the recipe to a 'T' and use Magnolia Bakery's *gasp* ultra-sweet version (warning: the cupcakes are already very sweet!).


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Recipe
Adapted from Food Network

Yields 12 cupcakes
- I halved the measurements and converted everything to metric. Please refer to the recipe link for measurements in cups.

- 85g self-raising flour*
* I did not have any, so I made my own using these estimates: 85g plain flour + 1 1/4tsp baking powder + 1/8 tsp salt
- 70g all-purpose plain flour
- 113g unsalted butter, softened
- 170g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean for even more intensity)

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F).

2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers.

3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

6. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4* full.
* I found that 2/3 full works much better ... those which I filled to 3/4 full actually spilled to the sides during baking. This batter rises quite a bit, so it's best to err on the side of underfilling.

7. Bake for 20 to 25* minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
* At the 20-minute mark, reduce heat to 160°C (325°F). The tops of the cupcakes should be lightly golden.

8. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.


Tadah ... cupcake heaven! My poor girl ... always being interrupted while eating. She took a bite and I hollered, "Hold it! I need to take a shot!" Lol.
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