Strawberries and champagne scream early British summer to me. Wimbledon, the early sun, 99’s, the softest grass you ever did lay your head upon and bright, long days filled with the scent of ripe strawberries are constantly in my dreams; not that I like Wimbledon. Things just always seemed a tad more civilised whilst it was on. The grunting annoys me.Speaking of civilised, financiers are pretty darned fancy. They are friands/tea cakes/frangipani sponge baked in a mini loaf tins. Their golden hue is reminiscent to that of bar of gold; hence the name financiers. I can imagine stacking these up whilst manically laughing at how rich I am. I am wearing a monocle.
I should mention that I ate the strawberries just straight of the champagne marinade I had on the go. I like to keep my life civilised.
Strawberries, champagne and lounging around in my Chanel twinset.
Okay that didn’t happen.
Anyway my point is; financiers, strawberries, champagne. The whole thing sounds civilised, it looks civilised and it is civilised.
Eat, drink and be merry. Wear heels whilst you eat them; it makes sense.
Strawberry and Champagne Financiers
Recipe taken from Australian Women’s Weekly Baking Day
100g strawberries sliced
Bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine (brut would be preferable, I used Petalumas Croser, which is a sparkling pinot noir/chardonnay)
6 egg whites (aged for one day)
185g butter, melted
120g ground almonds
240g icing sugar
75g plain flour (if you want to make this G/F just use gluten-free flour)
extra icing sugar for dusting
The Plan
One day before you plan to make these slice the strawberries and cover in champagne. Refrigerate. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and refrigerate the egg whites. You can use the yolks to make dark chocolate pudding.
On the Day
Preheat the oven to 200c and grease a mini loaf tin; I used olive oil spray lightly.
Whisk the egg whites on medium speed until fluffy. Add the melted butter, ground almonds, icing sugar and flour (One bowl, so easy!).
Whisk ingredients until just combined.
Use an ice cream scoop to get even amounts in each mini loaf, fill about 1/3 to ½.
Top with the marinated strawberries; don’t get rid of the excess liquid.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are a golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Remove from tin and allow to cool for a further half an hour.
Brush the champagne strawberry mixture over the top of the cooled cakes, and dust with icing sugar.
Enjoy your fabulous life.
The Little Cookbook 