Cherry Financier with Macerated Apricots and Almond Ice Cream
From Stone Fruit Cooking with Hugh Groman Catering
For the Financier:
- 3 ounces cake flour
- 2 ounces almond flour
- 7 ounces powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces butter, cooked until brown and cooled slightly
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¾ cup egg whites (not whipped)
- 2 teaspoons kirsch (optional)
- 8 ounces cherries, pitted
Preheat oven to 350º. Butter and flour individual tart molds.
Mix together cake flour, almond flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix with paddle attachment until combined. Add honey to brown butter and mix to combine. Add honey/butter mixture and egg whites alternately to flour mixture in three additions. Add kirsch if desired. Allow batter to cool and scoop into prepared pans.
Sprinkle cherries on the tops of the cakes cut side up. Bake about 20 minutes until firm and golden brown. Makes approximately 12 individual cakes with extra ice cream.
For the Apricots:
- 1 pound apricots, sliced into wedges
- ½ cup (or to taste) muscat or other dessert wine
- Powdered sugar, to taste
- Lemon juice, to taste
Mix apricots, wine, sugar, and lemon juice together and let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.
For the Ice Cream:
- 2 cups almonds, toasted and chopped
- 9 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 1½ cups milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- ⅓ vanilla bean, scraped
Place sugar, milk, and cream in a saucepan. Cut vanilla bean open and scrape the seeds into the milk mixture, adding bean hull as well. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add almonds, and allow to steep about 20 minutes.
Return saucepan to heat and bring to near boil. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl, and using a small amount of the hot milk mixture, temper the egg yolks and then gradually stir the rest of the milk into the yolks. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the mixture reaches 180º. Strain immediately and place in an ice bath. When cold, freeze in an ice-cream machine.
