Friand, in French, literally means a tasty thing. Friands are individual, oval-shaped almond cakes that are popular in Australia. They’re made with eggs whites and powdered sugar, making them super light, and they can be flavoured with any fruit or even chocolate chips – once you’ve mastered the basic recipe, go wild and experiment.

You can buy special friand tins online, or the cakes can be baked in a regular muffin tin. Whichever shape you choose, only fill the holes about ¾ full with the batter before baking.


They look gorgeous dusted with icing sugar. Share these tasty, UpWest treats at parties, or make pretty little gifts (friands for friends), boxed up and tied with ribbon.


Serves: 9-12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes



Ingredients:


110g (4oz) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the tin
70g (2½oz / ½ cup) plain flour, plus extra for dusting the tin
100g (3½oz / 1 cup) ground almonds (almond meal)
165g (6oz / 1 2/3 cups) powdered (confectionerary) sugar, plus extra for dusting
¼ tsp fine sea salt
6 egg whites
½ tsp almond extract
9-12 blackberries
2-3 tbsp flaked almonds



Preparation:


Preheat the oven to 160ËšC fan / 325ËšF fan / gas mark 4. Brush the holes of a friand or muffin tin with melted butter, then dust each with flour shaking out any excess.



Mix the Ingredients


Mix together the flour, ground almonds, powdered (confectionary) sugar and salt in a bowl.


Place the egg whites and almond extract in a large mixing bowl and using a balloon whisk or electric beaters, set to a low speed, whisk gently for 1-2 minutes until very lightly frothy and foamy. Sift the dry ingredients over the egg whites and fold in gently until just combined. Finally pour in the melted butter and stir in until just combined.



Fill the Tins


Evenly spoon or pour the batter into the holes of the tin filling them about ¾ full (the mixture should be enough to make 9-12 cakes depending on the size of your tin). Sit a blackberry on top of each, then scatter afew flaked almonds over the top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden.



Cool and Remove


Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting the friands out onto a wire rack to cool completely (you may need to use a cutlery knife to help ease them out).


Dust with a little icing sugar before serving, or store at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.