Friands are also known as financiers and originate from France. They are beautiful and delicious bite-lets that work great as part of an afternoon tea or for serving with coffee. We've paired our friands with gooseberry and hazelnut but they work well with lots of different fruits such as blueberry, plum and raspberries.
Make sure you whisk up the egg whites really well as this is the only aeration that takes place. There's no self-raising flour or raising agent anywhere else.
You can purchase a friand mould online but if you can't find one or there's no time, you can also use a muffin tin. Just make sure you grease your moulds well so that the tasty friands don't stick during cooking.
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C, Gas 4. Cook the gooseberries in 2tsp lemon juice over a medium heat for 3-5mins until they just begin to burst open. Set aside to cool.
- Combine the ground almonds and flour in a large bowl and then sift in the icing sugar. Mix well and leave to one side.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff and then place into the flour mix with the melted butter and lemon zest. Fold carefully until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the friand moulds so they are around three-quarters full, then place a spoonful of the gooseberry mix on top and a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 12-14 mins until they have slightly risen and they are lightly golden.
Ingredients
- 115g gooseberries
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 100g ground almonds
- 50g plain flour
- 175g icing sugar
- 3 medium egg whites
- 120g butter, melted and cooled
- 2tbsp chopped hazelnuts
- you will need:
- friand mould or muffin tin, greased
Try plums instead
If you can’t find gooseberries, use sliced Victoria plums instead
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