Dragon fruit financiers
Financiers are small french tea cakes made with almond flour, egg whites and brown butter. They are light and sweet and usually topped with fruit.
I recently saw some gluten free financiers on Une-deux senses. Her financiers were so elegant and pretty. I’ve seen the gluten free version before and have been wanting to make them. Instead of using regular flour, it uses sweet rice flour. Since I like sweet rice flour desserts, I was curious to see how financiers would taste using sweet rice flour.
I thought the sweet rice flour might make these very dense, but they didn’t. They still remained very light. I loved the light golden color of these financiers. I usually make mine with berries but this weekend I saw some gorgeous dragonfruit on sale and knew I wanted to try making them with dragonfruit.
Dragonfruit is a tropical fruit that looks very exotic, with its magenta colored skin and cactus-like shape. Funny thing, every time I am picking out dragon fruit, someone always approaches me asking how to pick dragon fruit. Honestly, I don’t know too much about picking the fruit. I try to choose ones that have dark pink skin and ones that aren’t too firm but aren’t soft/mushy.
To eat dragon fruit, you simply cut it in half and you can eat the white flesh inside. The white flesh is very soft. You can use a sharp knife and cut the flesh into cubes and use the thick skin as a bowl. Dragon fruit has a very mild taste. It’s not very sweet and doesn’t taste much like anything. As a result, many people are disappointed and don’t like the taste. The little black seeds add a little crunch. I personally love dragon fruit. But then I love almost all tropical fruits.
You can use a variety of different molds for financiers. Usually, I use a muffin tin. However, to get a nicer shape, I decided to use my tartlette pan this time. I was afraid that the financiers might stick to the fluted edges of the molds, but they slid out very easily.
Dragon Fruit Financiers
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup ground almond flour
- 1/3 cup sweet rice flour
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup dragon fruit, cut into small cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray the inside of 12 financier molds or muffin cups with cooking spray.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, and let the butter melt and bubble. After a few minutes, you will hear the bubbling stop. Remove from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes (the froth will dissipate) before straining it to remove the little dark butter particles at the bottom of the pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, ground almond flour, and sweet rice flour. Add the egg whites and mix. Add the brown butter, and mix with a whisk until smooth. Divide the batter among the molds. Press 3-4 pieces of dragon fruit onto the surface of each. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Sorry, I ow = how.
Thank you so much. I’m a sixth grader who is in a Robotics group that participates in FIRST©. My school is holding the 2011 Robotics Tournament tomorrow and these looked wonderful! I’ll “report” back on Monday to tell you ow the judges loved these!
Oh, are you able to find dragonfruit right now? I didn’t know they were still in season. But good luck! I was in Robotics in high school and I remember FIRST.
YUM dragon fruit sounds intriguing and awesome! glad you liked them 🙂
This is going to be my go-to recipe for financiers. I like them even better than the non-gluten version!
you’re so creative with the dragon fruit in the financier! it’s such a vibrant fruit but the taste is something that i slowly came to enjoy over time! this looks like the perfect treat for an afternoon tea…hmmm.
I was really pleased with how they came out. The fruit worked beautifully with the batter. I think it’s a very contradictory fruit. It’s so vibrant that people expect a bold, exotic flavor. I really enjoy the subtle sweet taste though.
Yum! I didn’t use to like dragon fruit, but I now love its subtle sweet flavor.
My mom told me that when picking dragon fruit, you should pick the one that is firm and won’t sink in when you press it with your finger.
Thanks for the tip! I like the subtle sweet flavor too.
I love that picture with the shell as a bowl. Never thought about doing that!