Coffee and Hazelnut Financiers

STEP 1: BROWN THE BUTTER

Melt the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat and cook until it foams, quietens, and the milk solids turn nut-brown with a strongly toasted aroma, 6 to 8 minutes. Pour it immediately into a bowl, solids and all, and leave to cool to just warm. This beurre noisette is the backbone of the flavour the judges praised.

STEP 2: MAKE THE BATTER

Sift the icing sugar, flour and salt into a large bowl, then stir through the ground hazelnuts and ground almonds. Whisk the egg whites to a loose froth, not to peaks, and fold them into the dry mixture. Add the dissolved instant espresso powder and the vanilla extract, then fold in the cooled brown butter until the batter is glossy and smooth.

STEP 3: REST THE BATTER

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight. Resting hydrates the flour and ground nuts and tightens the batter so it holds its shape in the mould. This is the cheapest single fix for a ragged edge.

STEP 4: PREPARE THE MOULDS

Butter a 12-hole financier tin or silicone financier mold thoroughly and chill it. Heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / 400F.

STEP 5: FILL PRECISELY

Transfer the rested batter to a piping bag and pipe each mould two-thirds full, no more. Tap the tin firmly on the worktop to level the surfaces. Uniform filling is what makes twelve cakes read as a set rather than twelve attempts.

STEP 6: BAKE

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until risen, golden at the edges and just springy at the centre. Pull them the moment the centres stop looking wet. The moisture Paul Hollywood praised lives in the last 90 seconds, so err early rather than late.

STEP 7: COOL COMPLETELY

Rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Ganache piped onto a warm financier will slump, and slumped ganache is exactly the untidy finish the judges saw.

STEP 8: MAKE THE GANACHE

Heat the double cream with the instant espresso powder until it is just below a simmer and the coffee has fully dissolved. Pour over the chopped dark chocolate, leave to stand for 2 minutes, then stir from the centre outward to a smooth emulsion. Beat in the softened butter and the pinch of salt.

STEP 9: BRING THE GANACHE TO PIPING CONSISTENCY

Cool the ganache at room temperature for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it holds a soft ribbon and a piped peak stands without spreading. Do not pipe it warm and do not let it set hard; if it stiffens, warm it briefly and stir it back.

STEP 10: PIPE TO A SINGLE FORMULA

Fit a piping bag with a small star or plain nozzle and pipe every cake identically, either one clean rosette or a single straight bar down the centre. Choose one and repeat it twelve times, wiping the nozzle between cakes.

STEP 11: SET, THEN GARNISH

Chill for 10 minutes, until the ganache is tacky but no longer wet, then place one toasted hazelnut half on each financier. Garnish set into wet ganache sinks and slides; garnish placed on tacky ganache stays where you put it.

STEP 12: SERVE

Best on the day of baking, served at room temperature. If made ahead, store airtight and bring back to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, as chilling mutes both the coffee and the brown butter.

STEP 13: OPTIONAL CARAMELISED HAZELNUTS

Bring the caster sugar and water to the boil without stirring and cook to a mid-amber caramel. Off the heat, dip each whole toasted hazelnut on a cocktail stick, lift it out and let the tail set hanging over the edge of the worktop. Use these in place of the plain hazelnut halves.