Financiers with a Summer Berry Salad for #SundaySupper

Jun 2, 2013 by

I’m so excited to be joining #SundaySupper again after what seems to be a very long time. I have missed you all, and all the interaction that comes along with blogging! Life has a funny way of forcing you to slow down, so I did the  best thing for me – I slowed all the way down. I’m getting stronger and well enough to get back into the blogging spirit and share some wonderful recipes with you. Today’s recipe is a good one. So simple and light, you’ll love it. The theme for today’s #SundaySupper is Summer Berries and well, lets just say that we haven’t been short on berries around here recently. Whether fresh or frozen, we have berries for either a quick snack or for smoothies. Our host today is Nicole from Daily Dish Recipes!

One  thing that I would love to accomplish this summer, is taking my children berry picking. I don’t have a preference of what berry…I just really want to pick! I am getting excited at the thought of picking strawberries and freezing them for smoothies, or baking with them. I know my kids will absolutely love that experience. I’m also looking forward to my first trip for the season to my local Farmer’s Market! I went the year before last and had a blast! I’ll let you all know when I get to go, because no doubt, I will have my camera with me to capture all the beautiful Ontario produce.

So back to todays recipe, Financiers with a Summer Berry Salad. The salad is so easy to make and such a wonderful way to enjoy your berries.  Financiers are French in origin and are basically mini cakes made with almond flour. They are very light, moist and every time I make them, they always seem to be finished too soon. The berries are the perfect accompaniment to the sweet, almond infused mini-muffins.

 Financiers with Summer Berry Salad_1

 

Financiers with a Summer Berry Salad for #SundaySupper

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4

Ingredients

  • For the Financiers:
  • 4 Tbsp Egg whites (or the whites from 2 eggs)
  • 60g Confectioners Sugar
  • 25g Ground Almonds
  • 25g All Purpose Flour, Unbleached
  • 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
  • For the Summer Berry Salad:
  • 1 Cup Raspberries
  • 2/3 Cup Blueberries
  • 1 Cup Strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed
  3. Fold in the sugar, ground almonds, flour and butter
  4. Divide evenly in silicone mini-muffin cups (about 2 tbsp batter in each cup)
  5. Bake for 13-15 minutes
  6. Allow muffins to cool completely before removing from silicone cups
  7. In a small bowl, place strawberries, blueberries and most of the raspberries. Reserve about a third cup.
  8. Using a very fine sieve, press the reserved raspberries through in order to extract the juice and add to the bowl.
  9. Sift confectioners sugar into the bowl and then gently fold to combine.
  10. Serve with the Financiers. Fruits can either be chilled first or left at room temperature.
https://lovelypantry.com/2013/06/financiers-with-a-summer-berry-salad-for-sundaysupper/

 

I truly adore summer berries. I have such an appreciation for them because growing up in Jamaica, these berries are imported and are quite expensive. I only enjoyed and indulged in these fruits when I travelled to the U.S. for summer holidays. I personally prefer baking with blueberries. I like raspberries as prepared in this recipe. But I will eat strawberries all day long. This season, I will get my heart’s desire!

 

BerriesCollage_1

Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries

 

I prefer to make my fruit salad in advance and have it chilled so it can be served once the financiers are cool.

 

Summer Berry Salad Collage_1

 

I recommend using silicone mini-muffin cups for this recipe. I tried making it directly in the muffin pan twice, and got poor results each time. The edges were slightly overdone and became rather hard once cooled. I got the best results using the silicone cups.

 

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad-40

Financiers – just out of the oven

 

These financiers are excellent on their own, but they go so nicely with fruit. We have also had financiers with raspberry jam, and it is just as nice.

 

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad-12-2_1

Financiers

 

 

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad-19_1

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad

 

 

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad-20_1

Financiers with Summer Berry Salad

 

Find inspiration for summer berries from the #SundaySupper members in the links below. Pin the ones you know for sure are keepers. Share your favourites on Facebook! Lets get into the summer spirit!

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe. It’s a favourite in my home and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

 

***

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sunday supper Sneak Peek: 45+ Fabulous Summer Berry Recipes for #SundaySupper

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday, April 14th to talk all about movies that have inspired us to head into the kitchen – and the food that comes from that inspiration (7pm EST)!  We’ll tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world.   Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag, and include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more delicious recipes and food photos.

 ** Look what we’re sponsoring! Come join us in sunny Orlando, this July! **

Learn more at www.foodandwineconference.com

FINALFW date Sneak Peek: 45+ Fabulous Summer Berry Recipes for #SundaySupper

 You really DON’T want to miss it!

 

 

 

 

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Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel for #MuffinMonday

Nov 5, 2012 by

Hi folks! It’s the start of the start of a brand new week and I’m happy to be joining #MuffinMonday today. It has been a rough couple of weeks and I’m doing all I can to get back into the kitchen more often for blogging purposes. One of my biggest challenges of course, is this season of limited natural light which is ideal for food photography. It’s a common complaint. But I’ve decided that no matter what, I will be taking photographs. If I’m not happy with the result, then at least I tried. For a long time, I refused to do my shoots after dark, even with the equipment that I had. The result just wasn’t pleasing to me. I’ve since then tried to come up with solutions to give me decent images after dark or with low lighting. So todays photos are my first with a weird and wacky temporary set up. I laugh about  it because its nothing like the bright home studio with windows from floor to ceiling that I often day-dream about.

Today’s recipe is from Taste.com.au and is filled with nutty goodness. I made my substitutions based on what I had on hand. I  had some dried cherries that I wanted to use and wouldn’t you know, I had just enough to make this recipe. I also wanted a streusel topping instead of crumbling crushed nuts on top.

Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel

 

 

Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel for #MuffinMonday
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A dense, nutty muffin with chunks of cherries and an almond streusel on top
Author:
Recipe type: Muffin
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Dried Cherries
  • 2 Cups Self-Raising Flour
  • ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
  • ½ Cup Slivered Almonds
  • 2 Tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • ½ Tsp Ground Nutmeg
  • ¾ Cup Buttermilk
  • ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Egg, lightly whisked
  • For the streusel:
  • ¼ Cup Almond Flour
  • ¼ Cup Unbleached, All-Purpose Flour
  • ½ Cup Turbinado Sugar
  • 5 Tbsp Cold Butter, diced
  • ½ Tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 392°F
  2. Line 12 x cup muffin pan with paper cases.
  3. Soak cherries in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, slivered almonds, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cherries.
  5. In a small measuring cup, combine buttermilk, oil and egg with a whisk.
  6. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined (do not overmix).
  7. Spoon evenly among the lined pans.
  8. Combine the the ingredients for the streusel in a small bowl and sprinkle over the muffins.
  9. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested.
Notes
This recipe yields 12-15 muffins

 

The first thing I noticed was that the streusel was very crumbly but also delightfully crunchy due to the turbinado sugar. I like crunchy, so thats ok.

 

Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel

 

Because the streusel has ground almonds, the nutty flavour was heightened.

 

Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel

 

My greatest delight about this muffin, is the burst of tart  flavour if you are lucky enough to sink your teeth into a piece of cherry. Its not too sweet, not too tart but certainly perks you up a bit.

 

Cherry Almond Spiced Muffins with Almond Streusel

 

Have an amazing week!

 

 

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week. 

Link to the Muffin Monday page: http://bakerstreet.tv/muffin-monday/

Link to Muffin 101: http://bakerstreet.tv/muffin-monday/muffin-101/

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Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

Jun 25, 2012 by

That title was a mouthful. The best mouthful I’ve had in a while. I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoyed these muffins. Thank goodness for Muffin Mondays!

When I saw this recipe, my first thought was…this isn’t the healthiest muffin recipe but I can work with it! I was determined to make this muffin as healthy as possible. Ah well, I’ll experiment some more at a later time but these muffins were terrific. They were beautifully moist with a lovely hint of espresso, and of course a few Dark Chocolate Chips to make it really special. You know Dark Chocolate is good for you, right?

Todays recipe is adapted from the book called Baked: New Frontiers In Baking by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito. I made a few changes that would hopefully ease my conscience even just a little. I wanted to incorporate almonds so I replaced regular milk with almond milk. I also substituted 1/2 cup all-purpose flour with almond flour (or almond meal). I had a bag of sliced almonds just waiting to be used. I put some in a food processor and pulsated until it was finely ground. I placed a few sliced almonds on the muffin batter just to see what it would be like and it turned out just fine. I knew the kids wouldn’t like them there so they had the ones without the almonds. I only used 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips. Good call – it was just the right amount for me.

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
Almond Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
An almond infused muffin with a hint of espresso and dark chocolate chips
Author:
Recipe type: Muffin
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup almond milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
  • ½ cup almond flour (3/4 cup sliced almonds in a food processor)
  • 1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips
  • A few tablespoons sliced almonds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with muffin liners or grease with cooking spray
  3. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas then stir in sugars, butter, milk, and egg. Set aside
  4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt
  5. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips
  7. Fill each cup about ¾ full
  8. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top of the muffin batter (optional)
  9. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean
  10. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes
Notes
This recipe is adapted from Baked: New Frontiers In Baking Yields 16 muffins

 

We started eating these muffins before I took photos. How on earth did I let that happen!? Once you’ve had one of these muffins, I kid you not, you won’t be able to stop…

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I was quite pleased with the almond slices on top. They were perfectly toasted and crunchy.

 

Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Extremely moist and rich in flavour. These muffins are a delightful breakfast or snack!

 

A bite from an Almond Banana Espresso Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin

 

We thoroughly enjoyed my adaptation. I will continue to convince myself that I made myself a healthy version of the original recipe.

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

I hope you enjoyed todays post. Have a wonderful week!

~Lyn

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Chocolate Oatmeal Banana Bites

Jul 28, 2011 by

 

You’ll hear me say quite often, that I love different. When I came across this recipe on Marmande In The Kitchen‘s blog, I knew I had to try it. I’m always looking for neat little treats for my family that tastes great and won’t harm them in the long run. Believe it or not, these little bites have no Eggs, Butter, Flour or sugar – which are basics in making baked items. Now, I did make some changes but it tasted awesome just the same. The original recipe called for Coconut Oil so I will try to use it when I make it the next time. Oh and guess what? I made my own Almond Meal! You should try it! Really!

As always, I used what I had available. I had some Sliced Almonds, so I put it in my Magic Bullet for a few pulses until I achieved the desired result and quantity. I had dark chocolate chips in the pantry. I did try the frosting, and it was great but I felt that the bites were good enough on their own. So here’s my amended recipe:

 

Ingredients:

3 Large, very ripe bananas, mashed

1 Tsp vanilla extract

¼ Cup Olive Oil

2 Cup Rolled Oats

2/3 Cup Almond Meal

½ Tsp Cinnamon

½ Tsp Allspice

½ Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Powder

2/3 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 24 hole mini muffin pan.

Mix to combine, the bananas, vanilla, and olive oil in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, almond meal, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips and stir until just combined.  The dough will be fairly loose and wet.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin tray and bake for about 15 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a cookie rack. If you can wait that long.

 

Enjoy!

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