raspberry friands.
December 11th, 2011 § 5 Comments
Because I had only ever eaten friands in cafés, I assumed that they were somehow complicated to make.
Incorrect.
A friand is a toothsome, buttery almond teacake, usually baked in small ovoid pans. I’ve heard that friands are an Australian/New Zealand tradition based on the French financier, that little cake made from ground almonds and fine sugar. Friands, although often bearing a rich, mottled crown of berries or other fruit, are similarly basic but elegant in terms of ingredients.
You start with a mixture of almond meal, powdered sugar, and flour into which you whisk melted butter and frothed egg whites. That’s it. And they bake beautifully to produce a tender, flavoursome little morsel perfect with tea, coffee, or insomnia (as I discovered at 3.00 am yesterday morning). They look rather striking and, dare I say it — fancy — with a vivid cluster of raspberries or blueberries pushed into the batter immediately before baking, but they could just as easily be enjoyed plain, or flavoured with various essences, liqueurs, or fruits. You could also substitute the almond meal for other ground nuts. I have seen hazelnut friands with cocoa whisked through, and others still using a mixture of almonds and pistachios.
I find that the simplest, plainest recipes can often be the most chic. Evidently, they are also the most adaptable. So ,use my recipe as a guide. As it is, I already cobbled it together from a handful of other online recipes because I wanted mine to be totally gluten free. Do note, however, that — as with pavlova — you will be left with quite a number of egg yolks. I suppose that these could be put to good use in some kind of custard, but I furtively slipped them all to my spoilt dog, whose shiny coat is testament to a frequency of such similar treats.
//raspberry friands//
If you are not concerned about gluten, you can replace the maize cornflour with wheaten cornflour or regular flour 1:1. It makes little difference to the structure of the cakes. And I don’t mean to be bossy, but do heed the following two pieces of advice: 1 Even if your friand pan is non-stick, grease and flour the holes to help the cakes come cleanly out once baked. 2 Don’t be tempted to mix the berries through the batter unless you want a marbled cake that is soggy in places. It all works much better if the fruit is added just before placing the cakes into the oven.1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup genuine cornflour
6 egg whites, beaten until frothy
150g butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberriesPreheat your oven to 180°C (or 160°C if using fan-forced). Grease a 6-hole friand pan and lightly flour by adding a pinch of cornflour to the hole, and tapping around to coat the base and sides.
In a large bowl, sift the powdered sugar and cornflour together. Add the almond meal and stir with a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients well.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites until lightly frothy. Pour into the nut mixture. Add the melted butter immediately afterwards, then whisk to form a smooth batter, free from large lumps.
Using a tablespoon, fill the friand-pan holes to 2/3. You will have some batter left over to bake a second round (or, if you have two friand pans, go for it!). Lightly press a small handful of berries into the top of the batter with your fingers.
Bake the cakes for 20 minutes or until the tops are firm and springy to the touch and the cakes have come away slightly from the sides of the pans. (I have a new oven with which I’m not yet terribly confident, so I watched them like a hawk). Repeat with the remaining batter.
If desired, dust with icing sugar. Serve warm with tea. The friands store well and can be gently warmed by a very short stint in the microwave or on an oven rack. They make wonderful gifts, encased in cellophane wrap and secured with ribbon.
Delicious post, Amber. My favourite thing to make with leftover egg yolks? Crème Pâtissière for vanilla slice. With passionfruit icing, of course.
This reminds me of the delicious choux buns I bought from a Japanese patisserie last week. Vanilla bean, chocolate, and green tea flavoured crème patissière, and not to sweet either. Maybe Molly won’t get the yolks next time!
Make them. Blog about them. And I will try to avoid drooling on my keyboard.
I’Ve eaten raspberry friands before and absolutely love them so thanks a lot for the recipe. These look so good.
I’m going to make lemon blueberry next time.Last week I made some tiny ones in a mini-muffin pan with one raspberry pushed into the crown of each, and they made lovely bite-sized morsels too.