Lemon Drizzle Friands

Those of you who regularly read my blog will know that I like almonds and just love friands.  So it is no surprise that I am making more friands, the delicious almond based cakes that are so popular in Australia and New Zealand.  I think they are becoming more popular in the UK too and probably elsewhere.

For today’s friands I decided on a light lemon flavour, and then intensified that flavour with some lemon icing on the top.

Friands are very easy to make, and don’t take long at all.  I have a friand pan so I can make the usual shape but using a muffin tin will work just as well, though differently shaped.

I do urge you all to try this recipe and am sure you will be delighted.  The lovely moist cake with the lemon flavour is a real treat for the taste buds.

Ingredients:
For the friands:

• 185g melted butter, allowed to cool a little
• 225g icing sugar
• 75g plain flour
• 125g ground almonds
• 6 medium egg whites(large in USA)
• Zest from two lemons(my zest weighed 4 grams)

For the lemon drizzle icing:

• 200g icing sugar
• juice of one lemon(you may not need it all)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F
2. Place a baking tray into the oven to heat
3. Grease a 12 hole friand(or muffin) pan with butter
4. In a large bowl whisk the eggs until light and frothy(but not soft peaks)
5. Sift the icing sugar and flour over the egg whites
6. Sprinkle the ground almonds and lemon zest on top.
7. Mix together until all is combined.
8. Add the melted butter and mix again, until all is combined(it will combine but will take a couple of minutes.
9. Divide the batter evenly into the 12 holes of the pan(about 2/3 full)
10. Place on the baking tray in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the friands are springy to the touch and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
12. In a bowl place the icing sugar and a little of the lemon juice.
13. Stir the juice in, adding more a little at a time, until you have a nice consistency for the icing.  If you want it to drizzle it needs to be slightly runny.  If thicker you can just use it to coat the tops of the friands.
14. When the friands are completely cooled ice the tops in whichever way you wish.  
15. Allow the icing to set a little before serving.