Chocolate financiers

Whenever I make custard-base ice cream and have leftover egg whites, I often make financiers - those little French tea cakes made with almond meal, egg whites, and brown butter.  We love these little cakes dearly, and I have to say I'm a little amazed it took me this long to make a chocolate version!

Sometimes, it feels like it's this little blog's mission to talk about chestnuts and financiers!  Those topics come up a lot.  Honestly, these humble looking little cakes are one of my favorite things.  I urge you to try it and I think you'll see why I'm so crazy about them!  Because looks alone don't do them justice.  Bake a fresh batch at home and you end up with these warm little cakes that have a crunchy crisp texture on the outside, along the edges, and an incredible hazel-nutty, buttery flavor within. 

I love the basic almond financiers so much that it's the one I make most often, usually with a spoonful of chestnut cream tucked inside (I can combine two favorite things together!). But I've also swapped out the ground almonds for pistachios, hazelnuts, and cashews to make those variations; plus, I've also made matcha financiers. Clearly, I'm a little financier-crazy!  And to further this madness, I went with a chocolate version this time.  I think it was long overdue.

All I did was add a couple of tablespoons of Dutch-process cocoa to the basic recipe I always use.  This simple move yielded these decadently-dark cakes, which have the same familiarly delicious nutty, buttery flavor, just now with a blanket of chocolate encasing the whole thing.  To get a little "fancy", you can grab some fresh berries - like I did with raspberries - and top a few on top of the cakes.  Add them about midway through baking so they don't sink into the batter.

I've mentioned before that I can never quite bake my financiers without a bit of a liquid center; I suspect it's because my batter is chilled.  It isn't a problem though. In fact, we love that slightly under-cooked center (it's the best part, tied with the crispy crust) so if you're willing, give it a try and see what I mean. 

These delicious chocolate financiers will be a part of the regular financier-making and eating rotation in our house going forward!