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Once upon a time, there was a small, rectangular, moist and tasty cake made from almonds, flour, sugar, butter and eggs. But before it arrived in our plates, “monsieur” le Financier was a plump Visitandine “demoiselle” which medieval recipe was invented by the Visitandine sisters of the Visitation order in Nancy. This little cake fell into oblivion during the Renaissance, when poison was everywhere. People were wary of almond-based preparations, whose taste and smell were similar to cyanide! It was not until the 19th century that a pastry chef called Lasne, located on rue Saint-Denis near the Paris Stock Exchange, brought the recipe back into fashion. For his customers, the financiers, whom Brillat-Savarin called the “heroes of gourmandise”, he took inspiration from the original recipe and marketed a small cake that was easy to eat without getting your fingers dirty. To differentiaite his creation, the pastry chef chose a rectangular shape, giving it the appearance of a gold ingot. The Financier was born!
