Lemon Friands

These are the first friands I have made.  I have no idea why they are a different shape to muffins / cupcakes and I am picking if you don’t have a friand tin they will turn out just fine in a muffin tin.  They are different to a cupcake though as they are made mainly of almond meal, egg whites and sugar – no flour.  I found them quite sweet and buttery. 
Here’s an interesting fact; my research tells me that friands are French in origin and are called ‘financier’ in some other parts of the world (sounds like something belonging in a bank to me, not a bakery).  So, it looks like I another sweet treat to look out for and try in it's home country while I am in France during my trip around Europe later this year.  I am so looking forward to indulging in French pastries and sugary delights!

Makes 12.

190g unsalted butter, melted
60g flour
1 ⅓ cups icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 cup almond meal
5 egg whites
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease a 12 hole friand pan with butter and dust with flour.  Shake out any excess flour.
Mix the flour, sugar and almond meal together in a large bowl.  Whisk the egg whites lightly with a fork, then add to the dry ingredients.  Add the butter and lemon zest to the mix, stirring until combined.
Fill each friand hole two thirds full with the batter.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until golden or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave the friands to sit for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Friands

 
I had been wanting to try my hand at making friands for a long time but had never tried one before so was kind of put off by the not knowing how they should turn out. However, this obstacle was removed a couple of weeks ago when my Step-Mum bought out a batch when visiting – they were so yummy that I had to give them a go myself and I was very pleased with the results.

They were beautifully golden on the outside but fluffy yet still moist in the middle. Everyone at my house on Saturday found them incredibly morish, between Shane, Max, two of my sisters and I, we managed to polish off the batch!

Ingredients
½ cup plain flour
1½ cups icing sugar
1 cup almond meal
6 egg whites, beaten lightly
150 grams melted butter, cooled
80 grams white chocolate finely chopped
1-2 dozen raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Lightly grease 12 friand molds or if you are like me and wanting to try your hand you can use a regular sized muffin tin.
Sift the flour and icing sugar into large mixing bowl. Stir in almond meal, egg whites and melted butter until combined (this can also be done in your electric mixer using the paddle attachment on a low speed). Add the white chocolate and mix again to ensure even distribution through your mixture.
Divide mixture among prepared pans (approximately ¼ cup mixture into each one). Top each one with 1 or 2 raspberries.
Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and golden (when a skewer is inserted into centre, it should come out clean).
Once baked leave them in the tin for 5-10 minutes to cool and then remove and place on a wire rack to cool for a further 15 or so minutes before dusting with icing sugar and serving.
*** I found I had enough mix left over to make a further 12 mini friands in a mini muffin tin – these only needed about 8 minutes in the oven and I popped them in while my full size batch were cooling.

With the summery flavor of the raspberries and festive red and white colour combo these would be a lovely addition to any Christmas function you have coming up but of course they can be enjoyed all year round. Enjoy!