Best 4 My Friend The Friand Recipes

RASPBERRY AND PISTACHIO FRIANDS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Melt the butter in a small pan, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Grease eight holes of the friand (or muffin) tin with a little bit of butter.
• Blitz 85g (2/3 cup) of the pistachio nuts in a food processor with the confectioners' sugar until very finely chopped. Tip into a bowl with the ground almonds and flour and mix together. Roughly chop the remaining pistachio nuts and set aside.
• Froth the egg whites lightly with a fork, then pour into the nuts and flour mixture with the melted butter and mix well.
• Pour the mixture into the friand tin holes, add a few raspberries to each one, then scatter with the chopped pistachios. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the friands are risen and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
• Serve warm or at room temperature. Dust with a little confectioners' sugar if you like. They should be light and chewy!
• Twist:
• Pecan Pie Friands: Make the friand recipe above, swapping pistachios for 100g (1 cup) pecans and the raspberries for 75g (2.6 oz) chewy toffee, chopped into small pieces. Sprinkle the toffee over the friand batter before baking.

SUPER EASY ALMOND FRIAND

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift flour into a large bowl.
• Add sugar and ground almonds and stir well.
• In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy and light-but not firm peaks (you are not making meringues).
• Add egg whites to dry ingredients, add butter, and gently stir everything together until you have thick batter.
• Place 6 small, lightly greased loaf tins (they should hold about half a cup of liquid) onto a baking sheet. Using a dessert spoon, fill 3/4 of each tin with batter. Clean up any spillages or batter on the cake tin rim or sides.
• Cook in center of oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until risen and golden brown; when center is pierced with a toothpick, it should come out clean.
• Leave cakes in tins for 5 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.
• Once cooled, dust with icing sugar, if using.

MY FRIEND THE FRIAND

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees C.
• Melt butter and allow it to cool.
• Use 1 tablespoon to coat 10 muffin tin moulds or individual oval baking moulds measuring 5 x 10 cm.
• Sift icing sugar and flour into bowl, mix in the ground almonds.
• Lightly beat egg whites with a fork, fold them into dry ingredients.
• Add cooled, melted butter and orange rind, mix well.
• Three quarters fill each mould with mixture and bake on the middle shelf of oven for 10 minutes.
• Turn tray around, and bake for another 5- 10 minutes, till tops are golden, and springy to the touch.
• Leave in the tins for 5 minutes, then gently unmould onto a wire tray and leave to cool.
• Dust the friands with icing sugar to serve.

BROWN BUTTER & CHERRY FRIANDS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Butter some non-stick muffin tins (or friand moulds if you have them). Melt the butter gently in a pan. Pour off 155g to cool in a bowl. Take the remaining butter to browning stage by keeping it over the heat and swirling it until it starts to caramelise and smell nutty, then take it off the heat and allow it to cool.
• Whisk the egg whites until frothy (no need for stiffness). Sieve the flour, sugar and ground almonds into a bowl with a pinch of salt, then mix. Add the two melted butters, vanilla and egg whites, and beat lightly until you have a well-combined and smooth batter. Add in ¾ of the cherries, stir to combine, then pour into the tins. Top with the remaining cherries and bake for 25-30 mins until puffed and golden, and a skewer comes out clean.