Drekars

You know, I always thought I would make an excellent Viking. Okay, maybe not the pillaging and killing bits (what exactly does pillaging involve, anyway?) But the wearing-a-silly-hat-and-lots-of-(fake) fur bits, as well as the running-around-with-a-big-sword-and-yelling-a-lot bit - those bits, definitely!

But hang on, what's being a Viking got to do with baking? Well, Vikings were one of the things that sprang to mind as soon as I spied these shiny barquette moulds in an antiques shop in Rye.

The other thought that sprang to mind? Financiers, finally! I may not have married one (opting instead for the poor but handsome IT geek), but I can certainly eat them. You can make the little cakes in cupcake tins, but that somehow seemed just a little wrong to me, which is way I was beyond excited when I spotted the little plastic bag of little metal boats in the shop.

Anyway, the whole point of this rather pointless preamble is to tell that 'Yes, I made some financiers'. Then dressed them up and pretended they were little drekars that were invading my kitchen. 

So, yes, I spent my Sunday making tiny little flags and pretending I was a Viking. But, whatever. It was my Sunday, after all. You probably would have done the same if you'd had these shiny new-old barquette moulds in your possession. 

The recipe is simplicity itself, although it does take a little time to butter and flour all those little boats. I followed this recipe from the BBC Good Food guide, swapping out the 50g of raisins for 50g frozen blueberries instead. I'm told that the recipe came from Gordon Ramsey. In that case, old foulmouth might have made a mistake with his measurements - it supposedly makes 24 financiers, but I struggled to fill up 15 moulds. 

Then again, it could very well be my fault, what with me being a financier virgin and all. Whatever the case, these are definitely worth making - you're rewarded with a dense, moist cake that's rich with the flavour of browned butter and almonds. 

I'm still looking out for other financier recipes to try though, so do pass them this way if you've got a good one!