We make a lot of ice cream around here. So when we make ice-cream, we use a lot of yolks. Kevin ploughs through these ice creams so quickly I am often left with a lot of egg whites to use up. One of my favorite things to make with egg whites that is quick and easy and I can do it with Kyan is a classic french pastry called Financier (Fee-Nann-See-Yeah). It is a buttery cake made with mostly almonds, egg whites and browned butter. The recipe is easy to tinker to make it gluten-free while preserving the yummy taste.

When I was living in Paris, I think I had a financier almost every other day. My little attic apartment was right round the corner of Eric Kayser's Bakery. If you haven't tried one of their financiers, next time you're in town, go grab a few. They come in different flavors, Natural (Almonds only) and my favorites are the raspberry and pistachio ones.

Eric Kayser
18 Rue de Bac
Paris, 75007
(There are many locations for Eric Kayser. Check their website for other locations.)

Here is the classic Financier recipe that we used in school. I tweaked it a little to make it Gluten-Free and Low-Refined-Sugar-Free.

Raspberry / Chocolate Financier

Makes 24 mini muffins

100g Almond Meal
50g Gluten Free Flour (We use Bob's Red Mill)
150g Egg Whites
120g Light Browned Butter
50g Coconut Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
12 nos Raspberries Fresh / Frozen
60 nos Chocolate Chunk

1. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, lightly cook the butter until it turns light brown. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Don't let the butter turn too brown as the butter will continue to brown after you remove from heat.

2. Mix almond meal, flour, coconut sugar together in a bowl and set aside.

3. Beat egg white light until frothy, not stiff.

4. Pour dry mixture into eggs and mix well until well incorporated. Add vanilla extract.

5. With the mixture on low, pour in warm butter carefully. Mix well.

6. Fill 2/3 mold with batter. Put raspberries or chocolate chips in the center and push down gently so it's in the middle and not all the way at the bottom. If the raspberries or chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the mold, it may cause problems demolding. We used 5 chocolate chips per Financier and it was plenty chocolatey. I also prefer at least 60% Dark Chocolate.