Lemon & Blueberry Friands

Friands are a lovely light cake, originally of French origin I believe, which is now very popular in Australia and New Zealand.  Usually they are made in a special pan, with oval cups that have straight sides, but they can equally well be made in a muffin pan.

Similar to financiers which I often make, but slightly lighter and just as delicious.  For mine I decided that lemon and blueberries would be a very good addition.  The basis for the friands, as with financiers is ground almonds and egg whites.  It is a simple recipe and takes very little time to prepare and bake.  So these are easy to do and can be ready in no time at all.

Mine turned out very well indeed, I was very pleased with just how light and tasty they were, with a lovely lemon flavour and the softened blueberries giving an extra hit.  

You should try these, using a muffin pan if you don’t want to search for, and buy, a special tin.  You will be very impressed with the results.

• 185g melted and cooled butter
• 225g icing sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 50g plain flour
• 6 medium(USA large) egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of two lemons, grated
• 80-150g blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F.
2. Grease a twelve hole friand of muffin pan.
3. Sift the icing sugar and the flour into a large bowl.
4. Add the ground almonds and stir in to combine.
5. Whisk the egg whites until they are light and frothy but have not reached soft peaks.
6. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg whites and vanilla extract.
7. Mix until combined into a batter.
8. Add the lemon zest and pour the melted butter over the top, then mix it in until it it fully combined.
9. Divide the mixture equally into the 12 cups of the pan.
10. Drop 5 or 6 blueberries into each cup so that they start to sink a little.
11. Bake in the oven for 20 to 22 minutes until the friands are springy when the tops are pressed.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.