Having made the Plum Round Ingots recently, the Gold Ingots this week means I have only one "financier-style" cakelet left to bake. The Plum Round Ingots effort also provided enough leftover browned butter to make the Gold Ingots, reducing this week's effort on an already pretty-easy cake. Just as I did with the first financier recipes from Rose's Heavenly Cakes, I found the directions less than clear. The small "plan ahead" note says "make the batter at least 1 hour ahead", but the step-by-step directions are similar to other of the financiers and could be interpreted to mean that only the batter that doesn't fit into your first pan-full needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour. However, I know the trick now, and so did remember to put the batter in the pans and then refrigerate the whole shebang for an hour before baking.
I followed the instructions for the Plum Round Ingots and made these completely in the food processor. Once I had ground the toasted almonds and sugar, it seemed silly to move over to the KitchenAid mixer. Not having a side-by-side comparison to check, I'll just assume that the food processor method worked fine.
Taste results: A hit for everyone, but especially for those who are able to fully appreciate non-chocolate cakes. (That would be me and my brother, plus a different nephew--my older brother's younger son, in town for a college football game.) Nicely buttery, the browned butter flavor coming through, and that little crust that Rose mentions as a highlight of the genre, all this made for a lovely few mouthfuls. I had a second taste the next day, and found I really missed the crust--it had softened overnight.
If I have browned butter on hand, this cake definitely becomes easy and pretty quick--except for the hour of refrigerator time. I'll be making it again.
i skipped the refrigeration--i too found it confusing--and mine came out great. good to know these can be made entirely in the food processor. i looked back at your plum round ingots and they are so pretty--just like the ones in the book!
ReplyDeleteI did not even know we were suppose to place them in the refrigerator! Yikes.. and using the food processor - Genius! I thought of it, but was to chicken to do it, thinking that I would mess it up - now I know for the next time - thanks!
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand the refrigeration instruction either. The first batch went straight from bowl to oven and the second sat in the frig for a bit. Didn't notice any difference between the two.
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