Hazelnut Financiers

Financiers are these mini, ultra moist cakes that are essentially made of almond flour and eaten apparently by dapper execs in the financial district in Paris. They are traditionally baked in rectangular moulds, seemingly resembling bars of gold. and hence the fancy name.
Now like i said, financiers are typically made of almond flour. I did'nt have any on hand, so decided to  improvise and use hazelnut flour. It worked like a charm. This cute little cake calls for another fascinating ingredient, the beurre noisette or brown butter. A little heads up: beurre noisette is to cake and cookies like ice cream is to us on a hot hot day. It's very good! People are raving about it on the internet with good reason. With its characteristic nutty flavor, it's pretty amazing what ordinary butter can turn into when appropriately prepared. The beurre noisette complements hazelnut in this recipe so well, i'm wondering why it took me so long to try this. This, dear friends, is a winner! It is actually giving the over rated but very delish cupcakes a run for its money around here :D

Recipe adapted with changes from here. I got 7 tartlet sized financiers

You will need:
-100 grams unsalted butter
-30 grams All-purpose flour
-1/2 cup hazelnut flour
-3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 

-Preheat the oven to 175 C. Roast the hazelnut flour on a baking sheet for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

-Spray moulds with non stick cooking spray or butter well. I used tartlet moulds.

-Onto the beurre noisette: Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat till foam appears. Continue to cook the butter till it clears and milk solids deposit at the bottom of the pan and turn dark brown. Remove from heat and pass through a fine strainer and allow to cool to room temperature.

-Sift together the hazelnut flour, flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle and pour in the lightly whisked egg whites, vanilla extract and cooled butter. Fold gently and pour into prepared moulds. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or till they pass the skewer test and have browned on top and are springy to the touch. Remove from the heat and let cool on rack before unmoulding.
They taste best when eaten right after they have cooled.