Financier Cake

     I know, I know, you've all been waiting with bated breath for this next post.  Well, it was just about complete and ready to go when our power suddenly went out last week and I lost the whole thing.  Devastating.  All that hard work gone, like a piece of my soul being ripped out and lost forever.  How do I get the words back?  Well, I can't, damn ComEd, so I'll just have to reconstruct.  Unfortunately that cake seems very far away now, but here it goes.
     I'm not quite sure where the name Financier came from for a cake, but the most commonly occurring reason in my research is that it came from a chef in Paris who made them for his wealthy banker clients.  The basis of this cake is a dense, chocolate and ground almond batter.  It is what is known as a "foam cake" or "sponge cake" or a "genoise" depending on who you ask.  This means that there is no rising agent in the cake except for the beaten egg whites.  The downside is that you have to get the cake into the oven immediately after incorporating all the ingredients into the batter.  The real downside is that I didn't do that little bit of research until AFTER I had made the cake.  So, things might have been a little bit different if I had known that ahead of time.  In any event, the most intriguing part of the batter is the butter, which is lightly browned on the stovetop before it is incorporated. This gives it a slightly nutty, caramelized flavor reminiscent of the top shell of a well fired creme brulee.
     Most Financier Cakes have some kind of fruit layer.  It could be anything, but I chose apricot.  Normally I am not a big fan of fruit with my chocolate.  In fact, as much as I love chocolate, I'd rather not have it at all if there is a fruit in residence.  Well, maybe a chocolate covered strawberry.  But just one.  So, apricot seemed the least "fruity" of the options.  Apricot preserves are boiled down and then strained to provide a translucent pop of flavor.
     Ultimately, the cake is covered with a rich chocolate ganache.  For those of you who don't know, and I was one of you before I made this recipe, ganache is made from chocolate and cream.  That's it.  No sugar, no butter, none of your typical frosting ingredients.  The result?  Heaven.  Dark, rich, luxurious, heaven.  I use Callebaut chocolate in all my chocolate recipes.  There are other, good quality, chocolates out there.  Valrhona is one and Ghirardelli would do in a pinch (which is great because it's the one good chocolate that you can get at your local grocery store), but not one of them compares to Callebaut in my book.  And let's face it, this is, actually, my book.  So the unique thing about this particular ganache recipe is that it calls for the middle layer to be whipped as it cools to provide an almost mousse-like consistency.  Then the top ganache layer is poured over the entire cake in one smooth layer.  The finishing touch is slivered almonds around the edge.
     The cake was beautiful to behold.  Unfortunately is was a little bit dry.  Huge bummer considering the amount of time involved in the preparation process.  The apricot was a really nice touch, for a fruit.  As a matter of fact, the cake was so incredibly chocolatey that the apricot did a nice job of breaking up the heavy feeling with a little zing of fresh flavor.  I shared this cake with my friends Julie and Brian.  It's up to them now to comment and let you know the real deal of how the cake was.  That is my only request when I share my baked goods with you.  Brutal Honesty.  Otherwise, what fun would the blog be if it were only a mutual admiration society?  On the other hand, if it IS good, you can say that too!