These easy-to-make hazelnut financiers have crunchy edges and a nutty, tender crumb. Topped with maple-infused roasted figs, they’re just irresistible!
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Sometimes a recipe comes to me at the mere sight of a perfectly fresh fruit. That’s what happened when I found a crate of 12 plump figs for only $6 at my local grocery store. I don’t buy figs very often because they’re usually expensive ($1.50 to $2 per fig), but this weekly deal gave me the perfect opportunity to get creative.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what to make with them. One of my favorite treats to make is financiers, and when I think of a new financier recipe, I usually start with the fruit I want to use as a garnish—I find financiers so much more interesting when fruits are tucked in the center—and then think of flavors that will highlight that fruit. During my short drive back home, I made up my mind: Figs + Maple + Hazelnuts.
The dirty little secret (or should I say, hidden advantage!) of elegant financiers is that they’re super easy to make. And when I say easy, I mean it: you simply stir all the ingredients together, scoop the mix into muffin cups, top each one with a piece of fruit, and you’re done! There are no expensive ingredients to buy or fussy techniques to learn. For these Maple-Roasted Fig and Hazelnut Financiers, you’ll have to roast the figs first, which requires a tiny bit of planning but yields an incredible reward: you’ll want to start using the jammy, maple-infused roasted figs everywhere! I think they’d be just amazing in a salad combined with blue cheese.
The trickiest thing to master when making financiers is browning the butter, but if you’ve never browned butter, fear not: you’ll quickly get the hang of this easy, forgiving technique. You could always make the financiers with plain melted butter, but you’d miss out on the incredibly addictive aroma of brown butter, which in this case marries perfectly with the hazelnuts used in the batter.
Because they’re made with naturally sticky ingredients (maple syrup, egg whites, sugar, and nuts), these fig and hazelnut financiers can stick to nonstick pans, even those coated with butter or cooking spray. My trick is to use parchment paper muffin cups, which will peel right off the cooled financiers.
These Maple-Roasted Fig and Hazelnut Financiers are at their very best on the day they’re baked, when the slightly sticky, crunchy edges so deliciously contrast with the nutty, moist interiors. I suggest you eat as many as you can, then gift the rest to the lucky people you cross paths with over the day. Believe me—before long, your friends will ask when you plan to bake your next batch!
If you can’t stand to part ways with your lovingly baked fig and hazelnut financiers (or if your family forbids you from giving them away!), you can of course store them in an airtight container at room temperature, where they will keep for up to three days, softening a little more with each day that passes.
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