financier

na wikipedia:

A financier, sometimes called a friand, is a type of pastry in French cuisine. The financier is a light tea cake, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. The basis of the cake itself is beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites, flour, and powdered sugar. Financiers are often baked in shaped molds. The name "financier" is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold.
Financiers are often served topped with whipped cream, berries, or other fruit, and served accompanied by ice cream or other frozen confections.
Recently, a number of artisanal bakers have begun making non-traditional financiers, using flavorings such as coconut, chocolate, banana, and hazelnut.
Financiers are somewhat similar to madeleines.

curiosidades, no joyofbaking.com:

Trends are unpredictable. Take the two French tea cakes, the Madeleine and the Financier (pronounced fee-nahng-syehr). Similar in that they both use a sponge like mixture that is baked in special molds. Yet in America while the Madeleine enjoys popularity, the Financier remains virtually unknown. Although the Madeleine has its assets, the Financier is easier to make (one bowl and no beating of the eggs), has the added flavor of ground almonds, can be baked in mini muffins pans if you don't own the special molds, and is lovely topped with fresh berries. Maybe the problem is that Proust romanticized the Madeleine in his novel 'Remembrance of Things Past', and not the Financier.

For those unfamiliar with this tea cake it is made from a sponge like batter of beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites, flour, toasted ground almonds, and powdered sugar. When baked they are soft and springy with a slightly domed top and a lovely golden brown crust. Take a bite and you can taste the moist subtle flavor of butter and almonds. An added bonus is that the batter is easily made as there is no beating of the egg whites. The ingredients are simply mixed together in one bowl. If you don't want to bake the cookies immediately, the batter will hold in the refrigerator for a few days. They are delicious plain but are especially pretty when fresh berries, like raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries are baked on top. If you decide to add the berries they are placed on the top of the batter about halfway through the baking time. This is done to first partially set the batter so the berries will not sink during the rest of the baking time. The traditional Financiers are baked in rectangular molds that are said to resemble bars of gold. The other popular mold is the boat shape (barquette) which I have used. However, both the boat shaped and the rectangular molds can be hard to find in this country so luckily you can just as successfully use small muffin tins.

Don't be put off trying this recipe because it contains beurre noisette, also called brown butter. This is just clarified butter which has been cooked until the milk solids have turned brown and have a rich fragrant nutty flavor. If you really don't want to make the beurre noisette you can make these tea cakes with melted unsalted butter. The tea cakes still taste quite good but will not have the wonderful nutty flavor of the beurre noisette. For more information on making Clarified Butter.

Another point in this recipe. You can use either almond flour (meal) or, if you are unable to find it, make your own by processing blanched whole almonds until finely ground. The almond flour (meal) or whole blanched almonds are toasted in the oven until lightly browned and then left to cool. If you are using the whole toasted almonds, let them cool and then process until finely ground.

Note: It should be mentioned that sometimes Financiers are called Friands (meaning "dainty" or "tasty") which refers to small almond flavored cakes baked in rectangular pans or molds.

Note: For almond flour (www.bakerscatalogue.com). For boat shaped molds (called barquettes) (www.surlatable.com or www.jbprince.com)

e uma receita, do olivier anquier:

Financier
20 unidades
Tempo de preparo: 30 minutos

Ingredientes:
• 200g de farinha de trigo penerada
• 200g de açucar de confeiteiro
• 100g de farinha de amendoas
• 150 de manteiga
• 4 clara de ovos
• sal

Prepare assim:

• Misture em um recipiente a farinha,de trigo, de amêndoas, o açúcar e uma pitada de sal.
• Enquanto a manteiga derrete em fogo baixo numa panela, misture com uma colher de pau as claras na farinha.
• Incorpore a manteiga derretida e distribua ate 3/4 do creme em pequenas formas retangulares previamente untados com manteiga.
• Coloque na parte alta do forno pré-aquecido a 200 graus por 15 minutos. Abaixe para 180 graus e continue o assamento por 5 minutos.