Financiers
Since debuting in 1975, the Financier has been loved by everyone for over 40 years. Throughout that time, we have repeatedly modified the ingredients and recipe to make it even tastier.
In French, Financier means an investor. A plausible story says that around 120 years ago a patissier who owned a shop on a street near the Paris Stock Exchange created the cake so that it could easily be eaten by businessmen without soiling their business suits.
We use almonds grown in California. These almonds grown in a dry region with little rain have a concentrated sweetness that makes the Financier even more delicious. We use fermented butter made from raw milk produced in the Nemuro and Kushiro regions in Hokkaido.
Enjoy the rich aroma of the almonds and fermented butter.
POINT
The highly fragrant almonds and rich, specially made butter are key to the delicious taste.
California almonds were carefully selected by a chef who competed in and won an international competition*. To maintain their quality, they’re transported at the low temperature of 8℃ and ground in our own kitchens. The butter is also a very special ingredient that we’re proud of. It was developed for the Financier and uses pre-fermented butter from the town of Hamanaka, Hokkaido.
*Japan Team Leader, 18th Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie
Original fermented butter is used that utilizes the best ingredients and production process.
Butter is one of the ingredients that determines the flavor of the Financier. More than anything, we are very particular about the quality of the raw milk. We chose raw milk from the Konsen region in Hokkaido from the many raw milk products available. Only raw milk from healthy dairy cows raised amid a blessed climate and natural environment is used in the original fermented butter. We’re also particular about the production process, and utilize the authentic French method of “pre-fermentation.” It enhances the characteristic butter flavor and creates a very smooth, melt-in-the-mouth feeling.
In pursuit of rich aroma, we discovered it is best to grind almonds in-house.
Almonds are an ingredient crucial to the Financier. Ordinarily, almonds are processed into powder immediately after being harvested and then shipped, but the drawback is they oxidize quickly. Henri Charpentier has been importing whole almonds for 20 years. Currently, we grind them in-house right before mixing them into the batter to elicit their rich aroma.
We’re also meticulous about almond varieties. We use the Marcona almond, known as the “Queen of Almonds” which has a strong aroma and juicy sweetness, and the Fritz almond that has a striking, aromatic flavor. Blending these two types to strike a good balance creates an unparalleled deliciousness.