"Tiger" Almond Cakes with Nutella Ganache

​These are known as Financiers, a delicious almond cake originating in the financial district of Paris. They are usually found in a rectangle shape like a little gold bar. These are much different because of the chocolate chunks in them (the tiger stripes) and the addition of a ganache.
 I think they'll make pretty little gifts.  I happened to have a large desert shell but you can make these in mini muffin or loaf tins, or whatever mini mold you may have.

Ingredients

• 100 g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 120 g (2/3 cup) granulated/caster sugar
• 40 g (1/3 cup) all purpose (regular) flour
• 60 g (1/2 cup) almond flour or meal
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped bitter sweet chocolate

​​Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425 F/220 C.

​Brown your butter in a small saucepan and set it aside. 

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour and almond flour. 
​
Pour in the cooled brown butter into the flour mix and slowly whisk it in. Whisk in the egg whites and vanilla until smooth.

Gently fold in the chocolate chunks.

Pour the mixin to your molds. Don't fill them to the top, maybe 3/4 of the way.

​After you put the financiers in the oven, lower the temp to 350F/170C and bake until done. This will depend on your mold size but between 10-20 minutes. The smaller the mold, the less time it will take.  Try not to open the oven door too often.

Mine were a bit larger and took about 18 minutes. Look for tops to become golden brown and begin to pull away from the side and springing back.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.

For the Nutella Ganache:

1/2 cup dark chocolate
1/2 cup nutella
1 cup heavy whipping cream (divided. 1/2 cup will be heated. The other 1/2 cup will remain cold)

Start by heating half the cream in a pot so that it's hot but not boiling. 

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave in a glass bowl. Using a spatula, add the Nutella and mix until they are both melted and smooth. 
Add half the heated cream (1/4 cup) and mix thoroughly with a spatula, not a whisk, then add the second half (other 1/4 cup) of the cream and repeat. The goal is to create an emulsion, so do not use a whisk here but a spatula so as not to incorporate air.

Then add the rest of the cold cream (1/2 cup) and mix until smooth. At this point, it is now a ganache and can be used as a smooth topping. I chose to whip mine so I could pipe it onto my cakes.

To do this, place plastic wrap directly on the ganache and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to cool completely. 

Using a standup mixer, whip it on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until the ganache thickens and doubles in size.

Place it into a piping bag and pipe it onto your cakes. You can use a zip lock bag with the corner cut off if you don't have a piping bag.
​
Be creative with your cakes!