WHAT YOU NEED

Mandarin Financier

Create a beurre noisette by heating the butter in a saucepan until it is boiling. Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the beurre noisette to a bowl to cool slightly. Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar, egg whites, almond meal and inverted sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the zest and continue mixing. Slowly add the cooled beurre noisette to the mixer. Sieve the plain flour and baking powder together in a bowl then add to the mixture. Continue to mix until it just comes together.

Lightly spray the inside of the mould with vegetable oil. Transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag and pipe it into the mould, filling it halfway. Bake at 160°C for 5-8 minutes. Remove the financier from the oven and allow to cool before placing in the freezer. Once frozen, unmould the financier and set aside at room temperature. Wash the silicon mould and use it for the sesame caramel in the next step. If you are not assembling the financier straight away, return them to the freezer.

Sesame Caramel

Heat the butter, sugar, cream, honey and glucose in a saucepan on a medium heat until a golden colour is achieved. Add the sesame seeds and chopped almonds. Spoon a small amount, approximately 4g, into each crevice of the mould. This will create 30 individual discs. Bake at 180°C for 5-8 minutes or until they are flat and golden-brown. Cool at room temperature and keep in the mould. If you are not using the caramel straight away, cover the mould in plastic wrap to keep the discs airtight.

Mandarin Jelly

Mix the pectin and sugar (A) together in a bowl. Meanwhile, boil the mandarin puree in a saucepan. Slowly add the sugar-pectin mixture to the saucepan and whisk continuously until it comes back to a boil. Add the sugar (B) followed by the glucose and heat to 107°C. Combine the tartaric acid and water together in a bowl then add it to the mixture. Deposit the mixture into the moulds on top of the sesame caramel, filling it just over halfway. As soon as you add the jelly, immediately place the unmoulded financier on top of the jelly to stick together, otherwise, the jelly will set very quickly. Allow to set for 2-3 hours at room temperature.

Chocolate Garnish

Create a long tube with baking paper, approximately 20mm in diameter, and secure with sticky tape. This will be used as the base for piping the chocolate garnish. Temper the white chocolate. Prepare a paper piping cone and fill it halfway with the chocolate. Cut a small tip off the end of the cone and pipe lines of chocolate on top of the tube, ensuring you don’t pipe over the sticky tape. Place in the fridge for 1 minute to set. To remove the chocolate garnishes, pinch the tube to release them. Reserve the paper piping cone filled with chocolate for the finishing touches below.

Finishing

Unmould the set financiers. Using the paper piping cone filled with chocolate, pipe a small dot of chocolate on top of the sesame caramel and secure the chocolate garnish on top. Before the chocolate sets, decorate with some gold leaf.