The cutie cakes are nutty and sweet and gluten-free (using rice flour and nut meal as the main part of the dry mix). These French cakes, called financiers, are usually made with almond meal but this variation uses pistachios, giving it a pretty, light-greenish hue. If you have a spice mill or coffee grinder it'll make quick work of turning the 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios into pistachio meal.
Once the butter has browned it is steeped with crushed cardamom pods and a halved vanilla bean and its seeds. Oh, what a heady aroma this creates! I want to find a perfume that smells exactly like this.
I think I should have whipped my eggs a little more for a lighter texture so I've made a note of it for next time. Both kids loved it as their dessert tonight and I'm packing up the leftovers to take with us for tomorrow night's picnic dinner.
This recipe is from La Tartine Gourmande and if you don't have this book you can find the recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/902952/brown-butter-pistachio-and-poppy-seed-financiers (I left out the poppy seeds but feel free to leave them in if you are so inclined.)
