Friands are small almond based cakes using egg whites as the only raising agent. The texture is quite unusual and not what you may expect. They very moist but not light and fluffy like a cupcake. A friand should be rich and more dense in texture.
These ones have fresh blackcurrants and almond flavours which work perfectly together. Friands are great to use up a small amount of fruit.
I have made mine in a traditional oval friand tray but this is not necessary you can make them in a deep muffin tray instead.
They are perfect for an afternoon tea and asking for a big dollop of cream!
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Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 degrees fan).
Spray or brush cake release into the individual sections of a friand tin or deep muffin tin.
Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and set aside to cool.
Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until they start to go frothy. They do not want to be whisked to stiff peaks. This could easily be done with a hand whisk in a bowl too.
Add the flour, sieved icing sugar, ground almonds, almond essence and melted butter and fold in gently keeping as much air in the egg whites as you can.
Divide the mixture between the 12 sections in the friand or muffin tin.
Add a few blackcurrants on the top of each cake.
Sprinkle on the flaked almonds.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before trying to remove them.
Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before dusting with sieved icing sugar to finish.
Blackcurrant & Almond Friands
Sarah’s servings: 12
Sarah’s Skill: Easy
Baking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
175g Melted unsalted butter
90g Plain flour
225g Sieved icing sugar
125g Ground almonds
6 Large egg whites
1 tsp Almond essence
100g Blackcurrants
2 Tbsp Flaked Almonds
1Tbsp Sieved icing sugar (optional)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 degrees fan).
Spray or brush cake release into the individual sections of a friand tin or deep muffin tin.
Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and set aside to cool.
Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until they start to go frothy. They do not want to be whisked to stiff peaks. This could easily be done with a hand whisk in a bowl too.
Add the flour, sieved icing sugar, ground almonds, almond essence and melted butter and fold in gently keeping as much air in the egg whites as you can.
Divide the mixture between the 12 sections in the friand or muffin tin.
Add a few blackcurrants on the top of each cake, then sprinkle on the flaked almonds.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before trying to remove them.
Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack, then dust with sieved icing sugar to finish.
Sarah’s extra slice……..
To use up the egg yolks you could make a fruit curd or custard.
Most soft fruits work really well in this recipe.
The baking tin I used