Roasted Almond & Fresh Cherry Cake and a Fond Farewell to Blogging

It is with slight trepidation and a mix of sadness and excitement that I wish to let you know that I have decided to finish blogging. I started this blog in my first year of uni, nearly 9 years ago (scary). At the time there were only a handful of food blogs around and when you mentioned to someone that you wrote a blog they looked at you blankly. It was new, exciting, secretive and a bizarre thought to think that something I wrote could be viewed by people all over the world. The world of social media and blogs had not yet fully taken off and it felt like I was joining a secret society. I never expected my little blog to have continued for as long as it has.

At the time it was something to keep me occupied between classes and gave me a reason for trying new recipes. However, I soon fell in love with it and it became part of my life. I became one of those people who spent hours reading blogs, browsing recipes, going on shopping trips specifically to find new spoons or coloured backgrounds for taking shots of food. I’d make a cake and not let anyone near it until I’d photographed it, often much to my family’s annoyance.

As time has gone on, my life has changed. I’ve graduated from uni, had 3 different jobs and lived in 3 different locations. Around the middle I was also diagnosed coeliac which at the time threatened to be the end of the blog and my love of baking. How can someone who loves cakes and baking so much suddenly be told they are not allowed to eat those things any more?! Yet it was actually blogging that got me through it. After a few weeks of crying whenever I walked near the bakery section in the supermarkets, it was experimenting with new recipes, sharing both my successes and failures and reading and learning about other gluten free ingredients and gluten free recipes/bloggers that provided me a whole new exciting food challenge and one I shall be forever grateful for.

I still love blogging and I will certainly never stop baking, but I have found over the past few months it has felt more and more like a chore than a hobby. After Christmas I started a new job which involves long hours, split shifts and working weekends. I am starting to create a new life in London and find I have less and less time for blogging. Rather than let it slowly peter out, until one day I simply never post again, I have decided to finish with a clean cut. There are now so many fabulous blogs out there that people have so much more to choose from that in order to be successful you really have to work at your blog, and I want to bake for enjoyment, rather than worry about whether the light is right for photos, or not making the same thing twice etc

I’ve had some amazing experiences, met some wonderful people, baked some delicious food and learnt so much about different cultures, ingredients and cuisines. Thank you all for reading over the years and providing such wonderful inspiration. I’ll keep reading and commenting, but for Apple & Spice it’s time to wish you all a fond farewell. Happy Baking! J

Roasted Almond & Fresh Cherry Cake

I wanted to end with a delicious cake. For me, it’s always been about the cake! This cake is a cross between a cake and the filling of a frangipane tart. It’s dense, moist and nutty as ground almonds make up most of the dry ingredients called for in the recipe. Very little flour is required meaning it was very easy to convert to being gluten free. It also only uses egg whites, rather than whole eggs which lends it a wonderfully light but slightly sticky texture.

The original recipe is from Rachel Allen and she uses pears and describes the recipe a pastryless tart rather than a cake. You can see a video of her making it here.

I adore the flavours of cherry and almonds together and as fresh English cherries are at their peak at the moment, (I even picked my own!) I decided to showcase these. I also roasted and ground my own ground almonds, which gave the cake a wonderful nutty, deeper almond flavour than using the pre-ground almonds. I also left the skin on mine which gave the cake a slightly darker speckled appearance, compared to Rachel’s pale golden affair, but I like this rustic look and it certainly enhanced the almond flavour.

The fresh glossy red cherries looked so pretty dotted into the cake and when cut into, they provided little pools of ruby juice against the golden cake. Eating a ripe, freshly picked, still warm cherry is also a wonderous thing. Really sweet and juicy with a great cherry flavour. So delicious when paired with the nutty almonds.

Roasted Almond & Fresh Cherry Cake

(Recipe adapted from Rachel Allen)

Ingredients

60g skin on almonds (or ground almonds)

90g butter, melted

90g icing sugar

30g buckwheat flour

3 egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice

Large handful of fresh cherries

20g flaked almonds

Method

Heat the oven to 200C. Line the base of a 6inch cake or tart tin with greaseproof paper and grease the sides.

Place the skin on almonds on a baking tray and roast them in the oven for 6-8 minutes until smelling lightly toasted. Leave to cool before blitzing in a small food processor to create ground almonds. It don’t need to be as fine as flour.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.

Sieve the icing sugar and buckwheat flour into a clean bowl and stir in the ground almonds.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites for 30 seconds, until just frothy. They don’t need to be peaky, just slightly aerated.

Add the whisked egg whites, melted butter and lemon juice to the dry ingredients and mix together with a spatula until combined and smooth.

Pour into the tart/cake tin and dot the top with the fresh cherries (you can de-stone them first, but I didn’t bother). Scatter over a few flaked almonds.

Bake in the oven at 200C for 12 minutes, before reducing the heat to 180C and baking for a further 12-15 minutes. It should be ever so slightly golden in colour, with a shiny, slightly sticky surface.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin to room temperature before serving. Warn your guests to look out for cherry stones if you’ve left them in!

Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Makes 1 x 6inch cake

Note: I’ve also made this cake with fresh plums, blueberries and nectarines

Chocolate Chip, Fig & Vanilla Yoghurt Loaf Cake

I love loaf cakes. There is something so enjoyable about their humble appearance, only to slice into them and reveal hidden chocolate chips, fruits, nuts, spices or speckles of banana.

These days I’ve noticed I often enjoy them more than cupcakes piled high with sweet icings. They are the kind of cake that fulfills that morning or afternoon treat-time craving without the guilt or immediate sugar rush/crash. Plus you get to cut as little or much as you like – there is no set amount as what equates to ‘a slice’

I often have a pot of yogurt in the fridge, but it’s usually the plain and unsweetened variety. However, there are exceptions to the rule. Last week when I was shopping I spied a large pot of sweetened vanilla yoghurt reduced to only 20p – that was too big a bargain to pass up and I snaffled it quickly. I ate a little with fruit, but as I’m used to natural unsweetened yogurt and it was just a little too sweet for me. Rather than let it go to waste I decided to bake with it and it made the perfect addition to this yogurt cake!

To compensate for the sugar already in the yogurt I simply reduced the sugar in the recipe. The sugar in question is granulated sugar rather than my usual caster sugar. I find this gives a lovely slightly crisp golden top to loaf cakes, more so than the finer caster sugar, but either would work. The yoghurt was also already flavoured with speckles of natural vanilla seeds and this lent a wonderfully sweet perfumed vanilla fragrance to the cake. The yoghurt and oil base kept it soft and tender too, while adding a bit of natural yoghurty tang. Delicious.

I had a squishy bag of dried figs to use up and I love adding dark chocolate chips to anything and so into the cake they went. This turned out to be a great combination, adding melty spots of bitter dark chocolate and chewy sweet figs against the backdrop of perfumed vanilla cake. The seeds in the fig added a slight crunch too, which was a nice addition every few bites.

I love cake with add-ins, it makes each bite that little bit different. It’s a super easy and quick cake to make too, all you need is a bowl and a spatula. No electric whisks, no creaming butter and sugar, you simply add wet to dry, stir and bake. You can use any additions you have on hand too – spices, nuts, fruits, chuck them all in and I’m sure you’ll still end up with a delicious cake.

This is the kind of cake to enjoy with a cup of tea, sat on the sofa and eaten with your fingers. No forks allowed!

Chocolate Chip, Fig & Vanilla Yoghurt Loaf Cake

Ingredients

90g buckwheat flour

50g brown rice flour

1½ tsp baking powder

70g dark chocolate chips

5 large soft dried figs

100g granulated sugar*

170g vanilla yoghurt*

80g sunflower oil

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

* if you want to use plain, unsweetened yoghurt, add 140g sugar

Method

Line the base of a cake loaf tin (approx 10x20cm) with a strip of greaseproof paper. Heat oven to 180C.

Cut the figs into small chunks with a pair of scissors. Combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, choc chips and figs together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, lightly mix together the yoghurt, oil, eggs and vanilla.

Pour the wet mix over the dry mix and fold together by hand using a spatula. A few small lumps are ok and it may look slightly split, this is fine.

Spread into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely.

Eat within 2 days or slice and freeze for later. Then allow slices to defrost for 30 minutes at room temperature before enjoying.

Makes 1 x loaf cake

Gluten Free Fair Trade Marmalade Steamed Sponge with Fresh Vanilla Bean Crème Anglaise (custard)

Steamed sponge puddings are my ideal dessert when the nights are chilly and drizzly or when I am simply in need of something comforting. Is there anything more nostalgic and comforting than a steaming hot sponge topped with sweet sticky jam and lashing of custard? It’s the food equivalent of a hug.

Raspberry jam or golden syrup are the classic childhood steamed sponges, but I’ve given mine a more modern twist by using Seville orange marmalade in place of the jam, while the sponge contains dark mucovado sugar, ginger and a little extra marmalade. This gives the sponge a deeper, almost burnt caramel flavour with just a hint of warming ginger which goes brilliantly with the bittersweet marmalade and prevents it being too sweet. Dousing it with a creamy fresh vanilla bean speckled crème anglaise (custard) really elevates this pud to a level almost deemed sophisticated, but you can of course serve it with the instant Birds custard (just like my mum used to) if you want full on nostalgia.

Grab yourself a spoon and a slice of steaming hot, lightly spiced sponge with its glossy sticky marmalade topping; pour over pools of creamy fragrant vanilla infused custard, snuggle into your favourite chair and enjoy!

I made this gluten free steamed marmalade sponge with crème anglaise (or custard!) for the recipe inspiration section of Wayfair. They challenged me to create a recipe using some of their amazing selection of cookery and bakery equipment to celebrate World Fair Trade Day on 9^th May. There are now lots of fair-trade products available in the shops and this one makes use of fair-trade sugar and a jar of fair-trade marmalade, just look out for the Fair Trade symbol on packs. This symbol means the farmers are paid a fair price for their products

Next week is also the start of Coeliac Awareness week (11^th – 17^th May) another event close to my heart, so it’s a fitting recipe all round.

If marmalade is not your thing, you can replace this with the jam of your choice, or even lemon curd, golden syrup, mincemeat or chunks of fresh fruit. Get creative with the spices and flavours too by adding cinnamon, cocoa powder, chocolate chips or lemon zest to make it your own.

You can see the full recipe here.

Intense Flourless Chocolate Cognac Truffle Cake with Miniature Easter Mini Eggs

Easter is only a few days away and I had a hankering for something chocolaty. Usually when you say ‘chocolate’ and ‘Easter’ to someone in the same sentence they will think of milky supermarket Easter eggs in their shiny coloured foil. While these are undoubtedly pretty, they don’t really hit the chocolate treat mark for me. Even as a child when I was given Easter eggs my mum would discovered them still sitting on my bedroom floor at Christmas. So much so that my relatives stopped bothering to buy them for me or else I simply handed them out to my siblings. If I want a chocolate treat these days it often involves a dark, cocoa rich chocolate with my preference being around 70-85%. (Although I'd never say no to anything Hotel Chocolat have to offer, hint hint family!). 

I went on the hunt – an Easter hunt if you will, for a rich chocolate dessert and decided on a flourless chocolate cake. I’ve had many a flourless chocolate cake over the years, some better than others. Quite a few incorporate ground almonds in place of the flour, which while keeping the cake moist, can sometimes give a slightly grainy texture which is not always desired. This recipe ticks all the right boxes, it’s nut free, grain free and gluten free. I tweaked the quantities a bit and added a little splash of cognac for a boozy hit, as like coffee, I find a drop of alcohol seems to enhance the richness of chocolate. The result is one amazing dessert.

‘Cake’ is really the wrong word for this dessert. Torte is probably more like it, or dense layer of fudgy chocolaty truffley deliciousness, but that’s a little OTT. However, this is one super rich, intense chocolate dessert!

The texture is similar to the inside of a giant truffle. It’s dense, silky smooth and very intense. The cognac really enhances the richness of the chocolate, giving it a luxurious flavour which isn’t obviously alcoholic.

There is a serious quantity of chocolate involved, which is melted with a simple sugar syrup rather than cream for a cleaner more concentrated chocolate flavour. The ingredients are incorporated with the minimum of stirring as unlike other flourless chocolate cakes I’ve seen, the idea here is not to incorporate any air, so no whisking of egg whites are involved. Instead the cake is gently stirred together and baked in a water bath which results in a softly set, dense chocolate ganache.

A light dusting of cocoa, a blob of lightly whipped cream and a few speckled miniature mini eggs are all that’s required to finish this Easter inspired dessert. I’m not normally a fan of plain whipped cream, but here it adds a nice lightness and contrast against the richness of the chocolate.

You only need small slices for a serious chocolate hit. The edges are slightly fudgy while the centre stays gloriously smooth and truffle-like. A fork glides through it like a hot knife through butter and each bite melts into an indulgently chocolaty pool in the mouth. It may be a little too intense for children, but who says adults can’t enjoy a chocolate treat at Easter too?! This is going to be my go-to chocolate dessert from now on.

Intense Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake / Torte

Ingredients

320g dark chocolate (mix of 60-80% cocoa)

100g butter

200g caster sugar

100ml water

½ tsp salt

5 eggs

45ml cognac or alcohol of choice

Decoration

2 tsp cocoa powder

150ml double cream whipped cream

Easter miniature mini eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line an 8inch/20cm deep round springform tin with baking paper and wrap the base and sides in a sheet of foil.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place into a large bowl. Cube the butter, add to the chocolate and set aside.

Add the sugar, water and salt to a saucepan and heat on the hob until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid has turned clear, stirring occasionally. Once clear, quickly bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.

Pour the hot sugar water over the chocolate-butter mixture and stir gently until everything is melted, smooth and glossy.

Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Stir the eggs together in a bowl so they are broken and combined, but do not whisk. You don’t want to incorporate any air. Stir the cognac or alcohol of choice into the eggs.

Pour the egg mix gradually into the melted chocolate mix while stirring together with a spatula. Again do not whisk, you want a smooth thick batter.

Pour the glossy fudgy chocolate mix into the prepared tin and gently shake the tin to smooth the top.

Place the tin into a deep baking tray, larger than the cake tin. Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water into the baking tray so it comes halfway up the sides of the in. It’s easier to do this when the tray is placed on the oven shelf. Try not to splash any water onto the cake itself.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until just set. The outside should look slightly puffed and will have started to have come away from the sides of the tin. (The middle may still be slightly sunken, but this is fine. It will level out on cooling.)

Remove the cake from the water bath, take off the outer layer of foil and leave to cool for 1 hour in the tin. Transfer the cake, still in the tin, to the fridge and leave to chill for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, heat a round bladed knife under hot water, wipe dry and run this around the inside edge of the tin before carefully releasing the springform tin. Lay a sheet of clingfilm loosely over the top of the cake (this stops it sticking to the board) and place a chopping board on top, and flip everything upside down. Remove the base of the tin and the greaseproof paper. Place a serving plate upside down on the cake and flip it over so it’s now right side up again. Carefully peel off the clingfilm.

Dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder.

Lightly whip the cream until soft peak stage. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe swirls of cream around the edge of the cake and top with Easter miniature mini eggs or flakes of chocolate.

Cut neat slices using a sharp knife heated in hot water and quickly dried. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Makes 1 x 8inch truffle cake

Foodie Finds in Cambridge

My aunt has a flat that she rents out in Cambridge and a couple of weeks ago it became vacant for a few days in-between new tenants arriving. She kindly offered it to us to use as a base for a few days. My mum and I jumped at the chance and enjoyed a lovely girly weekend away.

Central Square Market

The first day we spent shopping, exploring the famous outdoor market, winding passageways and arcades. We decided to eat out at lunchtime and then buy some goodies to take back to the flat to enjoy for dinner. We couldn’t resist getting these grapes off the market – just look at the size of them, absolutely gigantic! I’ve never seen such large grapes in my life, and they only had 2-3 tiny seeds inside too. They were deliciously crisp and sweet. We went back at the end of our stay to try and buy some more but sadly he wasn’t there that day.

There is also a fantastic bread stall called The Earth’s Crust, for those lucky people who can eat gluten. My mum bought a delicious walnut bread and sourdough from here which she enjoyed with our giant grapes and some local cheese in the evening.

I’d planned ahead and taken my own gluten free bread, but also indulged in some delicious artisan cheese from the CambridgeCheese Company. This is hidden down a side alley and well worth hunting out. It’s a real treasure trove of cheeses, meats, olives, oils and other assorted gourmet ingredients.

Rainbow Café – King’s Parade

For lunch we decided to try Rainbow Café. It’s an entirely vegetarian café that also caters magnificently for vegans, coeliacs and dairy free diets. It’s almost a secret restaurant, as it has no obvious shop front along the street but is secluded down a narrow alleyway, situated directly opposite the famous Kings Collage Cambridge. So if you see this you know you are in the right location.

Look out for the Rainbow Café sign down the alleyway and follow it down until you get to a door surrounded by hangings baskets filled with flowers. Open the door and walk down the steps into the depths below. This opens out into a few interconnecting rooms, hidden beneath the street above. The ceilings are low and the wooden tables are clustered into nooks and crannies. The walls are brightly coloured and adorned with mirrors giving it a very inviting and cheery atmosphere. You really feel like you have stumbled upon a hidden gem.

It may have a secret location, but it’s by no means a secret to the locals – we got there early and within minutes all the tables were taken. Some people have a set, somewhat negative view of what vegetarian food is. If you know of any such doubters – take them here – the food is outstanding, a real mix of international flavours and dishes, and not a boring mushroom risotto or goats cheese tart in sight! Instead you have dishes like Jamaican Roti Cups, Latvian Potato Bake or Enchilladas.

I should think 70% of the menu was naturally gluten free, which made me very dithery and indecisive over what to choose from the menu – I’m not used to so much choice! In the end I had Pepper Pot: A West Indian favourite - fiery hot as the Caribbean, jewel peppers, seasonal pumpkin, carrot, onion, garlic, tamarind and coconut. This was served on rice’n’peas and topped with a large wedge of fresh pineapple and a side salad. The photos don’t do it justice, but being underground doesn’t lend itself well to photos.

It was amazing. Sweet yet slightly spicy, the heat growing as I ate it. It was creamy from the coconut and a generous amount of nutty brown rice underneath. The fresh pineapple was sweet and juicy and was great to take bites from in-between spicy mouthfuls. I’ve never had a dish like it.

We were both full after our lunch but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try one of the desserts from the specials board – not when 10 of the 13 dessert specials were gluten free – what choice!

We decided to share the Lime & Zucchini cake as this sounded a bit different. It came in a generous wedge and had a fabulous pudding-cake texture. It was moist, dense and fudgy. The top was doused in a zingy lime syrup and flecks of courgette/zucchini were visible speckled throughout the cake. It reminded me of sticky toffee pudding in texture, and we think we picked up on a subtle hint of ginger too. Amazing, especially as it was gluten free, dairy free, egg free and vegan. I’d love the recipe. This place really is a must visit for the charm, food and fun top secret location alone – whether you have dietary requirements or not.

Afternoon Tease – Kings Street

Afternoon Tease (love the name) is a buzzing café located just outside the main shopping square in Cambridge. It serves a wonderful selection of brunches, lunches and of course plenty of mouth-watering cakes for afternoon tea. Everything is made fresh daily on site, and the menu is always changing according to seasonality and what the team feel like trying out on the day. I think this is a wonderful idea and keeps it fresh and exciting. You never know what’s going to be on offer each visit. Look at their facebook site for some very drool-worthy photos.

We visited Afternoon Tease for morning coffee and cake on our final day. I’d emailed the lovely owner Jo in advance to ask about gluten free cake, and was told they always had at least one offering. Sure enough when we arrived there was a choice of gluten free pistachio lemon drizzle loaf cake or almond financiers. It was so nice to see something other than the bog standard gluten free brownie.

I went for the pistachio and lemon drizzle loaf cake and it was one of the best cakes I’ve ever had out. It was damp and closely textured, yet wonderfully soft and light. It had a pale green tint from the nuts of which there were also a few chunks scattered throughout the cake, giving it a nice bite. The top had been doused in a zingy lemon syrup which complimented the pistachio flavour perfectly.

My mum went for a slice of ginger cake with lemon cream cheese frosting, which was also studded with chunks of glace ginger. She enjoyed it, but after tasting mine she got cake envy and has made me promise to try and recreate the pistachio cake at home. The coffee was excellent too. I’d love to go back to try their lunch options sometime.

Mill Road

Another place to explore is Mill Road which is a bit outside the city centre. It’s a long street lined with a whole assortment of independent shops, restaurants and cafés. I even found a vegetarian wholefoods and stocked up on some gluten free bread, noodles and crackers, all brands I’ve only ever seen online before.

The Sea Tree – Mill Road

Walk right to the end of Mill Road and over the railway bridge and you come to The Sea Tree which is a fabulous fresh fish and chip shop. They can cook you fresh gluten free fish and/or chips any day of the week. They have a separate fryer for their chips and also use this for any gluten free requests, of which they have a separate gluten free batter. They only serve fresh fish, no pizzas or burgers and you can get them to eat in or take away. Everything is fresh and you are not limited to cod or haddock either. If you want calamari, scallops or sea bass that’s not a problem and you can also have it battered, fried or grilled. You can’t beat a freshly cooked, piping hot crisp chip, eaten straight out the paper with your fingers. Another must if you are staying locally.

Fitzbillies – Trumpington Street

Finally, if you are not needing to eat gluten free then you must also stop by Fitzbillies. A traditional wooden fronted bakery/café that has been going since 1921, and is now run by the famous food writer Tim Hayward. They are famous for their huge (and my mum declares delicious) sticky Chelsea Buns.

Choc Chip, Fig, Pistachio & Almond Brown Butter Financiers

Just saying all those ingredients you know these are going to taste good. This was a bake of firsts for me. I’ve never made my own financiers before and I’ve never made a cake using brown butter (beurre noisette) before either. After baking these tempting little cakes I can safely say I’ll definitely be making both again.

I decided to bake financiers as I had two egg whites leftover after making a lemon tart and wanted to use them up. I’m not much or a meringue fan and all my other egg white cakes I’ve made in the past required more than two egg whites, so I went blog browsing and stumbled upon financiers.

These cute mini cakes are often served as part of an afternoon tea or after dinner treat due to their size and pretty presentation. You can buy oval shaped financier tins, but I decided to use some petit fours tins I had recently rediscovered in a dusty corner of my cupboard. I think their little fluted edges make them look very dainty.

They are quite dense little cakes, but this doesn’t mean they are heavy. They are simply moist, soft almond packed little cakes that reminded me almost of marzipan. The use of egg whites keeps them moist and light with an elegant pale coloured crumb.

The browned butter enhanced their natural nuttiness and gave them a greater depth of flavour. It was subtle, but definitely made a difference. I’m going to have to try it again in some other bakes.

A slice of fresh fig and a scatter of chopped pistachios made for an elegant finish. There is something about figs that just scream luxury. The other half were topped with slivered almonds and dark choc chips which stayed wonderful soft and melty after baking. When presented together I was really pleased how they turned out, and I loved the flavours of both.

Next time you have some leftover egg whites, bake financiers!

Choc Chip, Fig, Pistachio & Almond Brown Butter Financiers

Ingredients
60g butter, plus extra for greasing
60g icing sugar
75g ground almonds
25g rice flour
2 egg whites
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 fresh fig

10 pistachio nuts

20 dark chocolate chips

2 tsp flaked almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt some butter and brush the insides of 8 petit four tins or financier tins.

Put the butter in a small pan and heat gently, allowing it to melt and then come to a gentle simmer. Keep watch while it turns from pale yellow to a pale golden amber colour. Do not let it burn. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Put the pistachio nuts and icing sugar into the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. 

Mix together the ground almonds, flour and icing sugar in a bowl. 

Lightly beat the egg whites until they foam, but not hold their shape. Add to the flour mix along with the vanilla and beat together whisk a whisk.

Mix in the warmed brown butter a little at a time, until combined.

Divide the financier batter evenly between the tins, filling three-quarters full.

Cut the fig into quarters or sixths (depending on size) and add a slice to the top of half of the financiers. Roughly chop the pistachios and scatter around the fig.

Top the other half of the financiers with dark chocolate chips and flaked almonds.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops look ‘set’ and very pale brown around the edges. They do not brown much. (I found the choc chip ones took 12 mins and the fig took 15 mins).

Cool in the tins for 5 minutes before carefully tipping out of the tins and leaving to cool completely.

Lightly dust with icing sugar before serving. Best eaten within 24 hours.

Makes 8 financiers