Blueberry Financiers

An easy Financier recipe with blueberries. These Blueberry Financier cakes are light and dainty, which are perfect with a cup of tea!

blueberry financier cakes on wire rack with fresh blueberries in a bowl

Financier Cakes

A financier cake is baked in a special rectangular mould so that the cakes resemble bars of gold

In Paris, you will find financier cakes at almost every bakery and cake shop, and they are commonly sold either plain or chocolate flavoured, although other flavour combinations exist too.

What they all have in common is that they are made from ground almonds and flour, and whisked eggwhites are used as the rising agent for these cakes.

blueberry financier cakes on wire rack with fresh blueberries on the side

Recipes Using Egg Whites

Given the multiple batches of Gingerbread Sablé and Giant Chocolate Chip Sablé I have been baking over the past few months, a recipe which uses at least 2 egg yolks per batch, my freezer has been overflowing with little plastic bags filled with frozen eggwhites.

And given that our freezer is no bigger than the ones you find in hotel mini bar fridges, the situation had reached a point where I couldn’t find room for a tub of ice-cream. Something had to go!

Apart from making a pavlova,  the quickest way I know how to use up lots of eggwhites is to whip up a batch of friands (such as these Raspberry Friands, Lemon Drizzle Friands, Rhubarb & Vanilla Friands), or their close cousin, the financier.

How to Make Financiers

Financiers are baking in shallow rectangular molds to resemble bars of gold.

The moulds are not as deep as those for mini-loaf cakes (they are about 1 cm deep), although you could certainly use the latter and only partially fill the moulds with batter.

financiers with blueberries on wire rack with vintage icing sugar spoon

What is a Financier?

Readers from Australia and New Zealand will be more familiar with friands, which are oval-shaped cakes made using the same recipe as for financiers. You can read more about the history of friands in my post for Rhubarb & Vanilla Friands.

Perhaps the advantage of a financier over a friand is that they are much daintier and smaller cakes, making them the perfect small bite alongside a cup of tea.

financier cakes with blueberries on cake rack

Traditional Financier Recipe

Financier cakes are typically sold plain, although there is the subtle hint of almond flavour from the ground almonds.

But because traditional financiers are plain, you can easily adapt recipes for financiers to add whatever other ingredients or flavours that you fancy.

A handful of raspberries would be delicious, or maybe even some chocolate chips.

blueberries at farmers market

Blueberry Financiers

I recently introduced our children to the joy of Playschool, a popular childrens’ TV programme in Australia. And ever since my son watched a segment where they baked blueberry muffins, he has been asking me everyday if we can bake some blueberry muffins.

Thankfully, he was not disappointed to make some blueberry financiers instead, and judging by the number of cakes he had for dessert tonight, it’s fair to say that they got his seal of approval 🙂

blueberry financier cakes on wire rack with fresh blueberries in bowl
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Blueberry Financiers

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5 from 3 reviews

  • Author: eatlittlebird.com
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Makes 18-24 cakes
  • Category: Cakes
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: French

An easy Financier recipe with blueberries. These Blueberry Financier cakes are light and dainty, which are perfect with a cup of tea!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) (without fan).
  2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until it turns a pale golden colour, but be careful not to let it burn.
  3. Use some of the butter to lightly grease a financier mould. A mini loaf pan would also work well, or even a normal muffin tin.
  4. Let the butter cool slightly to use later in the recipe.
  5. Sift the flour and icing sugar (powdered sugar) into a large bowl and stir through the ground almonds.
  6. Place the eggwhites into another large bowl and whisk until they are white and frothy.
  7. Gently mix the frothy eggwhites into the flour mixture.
  8. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract, and stir everything together.
  9. Fill the financier moulds with the batter, but not quite to the very top. If you are using another type cake mould, fill the moulds with about 1 cm of batter.
  10. Scatter a few blueberries over each cake.
  11. Bake the cakes in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden.
  12. Let the financiers cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  13. Serve the financiers warm or cold with a dusting of icing sugar (powdered sugar).

Kitchen Notes

EGGWHITES
Eggwhites can be frozen and later thawed for use in cooking and baking. I like to freeze them in pairs in small zip-lock freezer bags, which means they take only 5-10 minutes to thaw in a bowl of water at room temperature.

OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.

CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 119
  • Sugar: 7.3g
  • Sodium: 14.8mg
  • Fat: 7.8g
  • Carbohydrates: 10.9g
  • Fiber: 0.7g
  • Protein: 2.2g
  • Cholesterol: 15.2mg

Did you make this recipe?

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Update

This recipe was first published on 8 February 2017. It has been updated with new photos and more comprehensive recipe notes.

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38 comments

  1. Sarah 9 February 2017

    I’ve been craving blueberries lately and these look wonderful…talk about perfect timing!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      My son LOVES blueberries, even when they are not in season. Thankfully, off-season blueberries work well in baking 🙂

      Reply
  2. Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com 9 February 2017

    These look absolutely perfect–so delicate and beautiful! I’m dying over your props, too. Simply lovely!

    Reply
  3. Elaine @ Dishes Delish 10 February 2017

    Those are the cutest things. Although I’ve seen them before, I had no clue that was the name of them. I can’t wait to see what else you make with your gazillion egg whites 🙂

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      Yes, you might see a few more recipes in the coming weeks using eggwhites 😉

      Reply
  4. Deanna 10 February 2017

    mmm This is perfect for my next sunday brunch! YUM!

    Reply
  5. Michelle 10 February 2017

    These are absolutely adorable. And what a great way to use up excess egg whites. Glad they got the seal of approval 😉

    Reply
  6. Adriana Lopez Martn 10 February 2017

    How lovely these financiers are and with blueberries. I can imagine these are so tasty and will fulfill the desire for a sweet treat. Using the egg whites I can imagine makes the cake fluffy and light too.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      These little cakes are quite sweet, but I love that the financiers are smaller than your usual mini loaf cakes. Which means you can have more than one 😉

      Reply
  7. Pam 10 February 2017

    These financiers look so dainty! I’m having a tea party for my granddaughter’s birthday, and these look like they would be perfect to serve.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      How lovely of you to host a tea party for your granddaughter! These financiers would indeed fit right in at any tea party. If you can’t find the special moulds, regular muffin moulds work too 🙂

      Reply
  8. Julie | Bunsen Burner Bakery 10 February 2017

    I’ve never heard of financiers before, but I’m headed to Paris next month, so I will have to sample some from the many bakeries I will surely visit! Love the blueberry addition – one of my favorites.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      Lucky you!!! You will certainly find them at most bakeries, and they are often sold in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You can typically find small bags of them at cake shops, and they make lovely gifts for taking home 🙂 Bon voyage!

      Reply
  9. Stephanie@ApplesforCJ 10 February 2017

    These would be so great with the morning coffee. I had never heard of financiers before but it sure is fun to discover new tasty recipes.

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 10 February 2017

      Hope you will get a chance to try these cakes one day! I’m also always discovering new recipes when visiting other blogs too 🙂

      Reply
  10. Megan Marlowe 11 February 2017

    These look light and delicious and something I would enjoy so much. I’m also delighted this post lead me to your lemon drizzle friands, which I’ve never heard about but must make happen in my kitchen immediately. I love the friand pan! Thanks for broadening my view of delectable pastries!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 12 February 2017

      Hi Megan,
      I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed this post 🙂 If you can’t find a friand pan, the recipe works just as well in muffin pans 🙂 Hope you will enjoy the recipes!

      Reply
  11. Sarah @ Champagne Tastes 11 February 2017

    This is so clever! I love making creme brulee, and am always left wondering what to do with all the egg whites! (Egg white omelette- NO THANK YOU!) I’ll have to try this next time!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 12 February 2017

      I’ve never tried an eggwhite omelette, but it doesn’t sound quite right to me 😉 I would much prefer to use my leftover eggwhites in pavlovas or friands! I also make custard often, and there are always at least 6-8 eggwhites leftover whenever i do so.

      Reply
  12. Love finding fun new recipes! I’ve never heard of these before but yours are so pretty and sound delicious.

    Reply
  13. Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife 11 February 2017

    I have never made financiers at home before, but this recipe is calling to me. They look like something my whole family would love!

    Reply
  14. Daniela Anderson 11 February 2017

    Leftover egg whites would not be a problem in my house, my husband loves omelettes, but without the egg yolks. I know, it sounds weird! Men, hey!
    I have not tried financiers before, but your recipe looks lovely, something l would definitely love!

    Reply
  15. Hanady | Recipe Nomad 12 February 2017

    These are just adorable and a great way to use up lots of egg whites! I also have a tiny refrigerator and freezer which is aggravating. So I love recipes that inspire me to clear out what I have! I have blueberries and cherries in the freezer that would be perfect!

    Reply
  16. Jacqui Bellefontaine 15 February 2017

    These look beautiful. I just want to eat one right now!

    Reply
  17. Kitty 21 February 2017

    These cakes are so lovely! Do you think eating them would improve my French? 😉

    Reply
  18. Jennie Durren 1 March 2017

    Your blog is so inspiring. I’ve gotten back into baking after a few years off (depression, young kids, blah blah), and I love your photography and your writing style.
    Anyway, I’ve yet to actually try financiers – clearly I should remedy that posthaste. My 3-year-old might even consent to eat them, since these have blueberries!

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 3 March 2017

      Oh thanks, Jennie 🙂 I hope you will find much inspiration here. Things can get tough when you have children, and whilst having a blog can take up a lot of time which most busy mothers don’t already have, I’ve found it somewhat reassuring to have my own space where I can do something just for me 🙂 Hopefully baking will give you some sort of respite too. My son can easily eat a whole punnet of blueberries on his own, but as they don’t taste so great out of season, baking with them is the next best thing!

      Reply
  19. Shez 14 March 2018

    Love this recipe! I used a mix of raspberries and blueberries and they were delicious!






    Reply
  20. Julia 16 April 2018

    I’m delighted! it looks great! Great recipe.






    Reply
  21. Fe 28 January 2021

    My first attempt of baking Financiers and it turned out perfect. This recipe is well written & very easy to follow. Thanks for sharing your excellent recipe. Loved it so much👍❤️❤️






    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 28 January 2021

      Hi Fe,
      Thank you for your lovely message! So glad you enjoyed these financiers! 🙂

      Reply
  22. Khen 5 May 2021

    Hello chef , I have just tried this recipe and it has come out really nice …wanted to ask how can we turn this into chocolate financiers …

    Reply