Financiers with poached plums

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally until it turns a nutty brown and smells nutty, about 5-6 mins. Put the icing sugar, almonds and flour in a large bowl and grate in the tonka bean. Whisk to combine. Add the egg whites and whisk to form a smooth batter. Gradually whisk the butter into the mix, adding it very slowly at the start. Cover and chill the mix until completely cool, ideally overnight.

2. Step 2

   Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter an eight-hole muffin tin and chill the tin to set. Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 30 mins until just firm to the touch and deeply golden. Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 2 mins, then carefully turn out and put on a cooling rack to cool completely.

3. Step 3

   Meanwhile, cut each plum into 8 segments, remove the stones and put in a heatproof bowl. Put the caster sugar, lemon, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves in a medium pan along with 225ml of water and bring to the boil. Pour over the plum segments and leave them to cool.

4. Step 4

   Put the cream in a large bowl with the sugar and scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod. Whisk until starting to thicken and it just holds its shape.

5. Step 5

   To finish, reheat the cakes in an oven at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 4 mins – this will bring back the crust which is crucial to add texture to the dish. Spoon a dollop of cream onto each plate, dust the cake with icing sugar and put next to the cream, finishing with a healthy spoonful of plums.