Friands are small almond cakes with a crisp crust, but exceptionally light and moist on the inside.
Makes 12 Preparation time 15 mins Cooking time 20 mins Cost per portion £0.14
Method
1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat, then take it off the heat and let it cool down.
3. Grease the inside of 6 muffin holes, or a 12 hole cupcake tin with some of the melted butter, (or use paper cases to line the tin).
4. Combine the flour, icing sugar and ground almonds together in a bowl and keep aside.
5. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they form soft peaks.
6. Add all the dry ingredients and the melted butter to the egg whites and fold in carefully with a metal spoon making sure not to over mix it, (which would destroy all the air that was whisked into the egg whites).
7. Divide the mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake for 20 minutes if making muffin sized cakes, or about 15 minutes for smaller cakes; they should be light and springy when cooked, and a knife poked into the centre should come out clean and dry,(if the knife comes out sticky, they need to cook for a little bit longer).
Ingredients
90g unsalted butter
3 egg whites
40g plain flour
100g icing sugar
70g ground almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Other options:
1. Soak the friands in lemon syrup:
Lemon Syrup Method
Heat the lemon juice and sugar together in a pan over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then spoon half a tablespoon of syrup over each friand.
Lemon Syrup Ingredients
Juice of 1 large lemon (40ml)
60g sugar
2. Raspberry friands – put 2 raspberries onto each cake before baking.
3. Blueberry friands – put 2 or 3 blueberries onto each cake before baking.
Additional Information:
I had never heard of friands until I came upon a recipe for them in a Sunday newspaper. They are quick and easy to make, and are apparently an Australian invention, based on the French ‘financiers’.
To use up the spare egg yolks you could make custard, crème brulee, crème patissiere, ice cream, a chocolate genoise sponge or mayonnaise. Home made custard takes about 15 minutes to make and tastes divine!
Nutrition Information (for plain friands)
| Nutrition | per 100g | per portion | RDA women | RDA men | RDA child |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 425 kcal | 140 kcal | 7% | 6% | 8% |
| Protein* | 7.9 g | 2.6 g | 6% | 5% | 11% |
| Carbohydrate* | 35 g | 12 g | 5% | 4% | 5% |
| Total Sugars* | 27 g | 8.9 g | 10% | 7% | 10% |
| Total Fat* | 29 g | 9.5 g | 14% | 10% | 14% |
| Polyunsaturates* | 2.5 g | 0.8 g | |||
| Mono Unsaturates* | 6.1 g | 2.0 g | |||
| Saturated Fat* | 13 g | 4.3 g | 21% | 14% | 21% |
| Fibre | 1.6 g | 0.5 g | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| Salt | 0.1 g | 0.0 g | 1% | 1% | 1% |
* Percentage Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet for an average adult.
Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Allergens: Wheat, Gluten, Nuts, Milk, Egg
Cost per recipe: £ 1.73
Cost per portion: £0.14