If you are looking for a simple but delicious tea time treat, then you really should try friands. These dainty individual cakes are made from butter, egg whites, almond meal and icing sugar. Originally from France, I’ve been told they are now very popular in Australia and New Zealand.
Raspberry and almond friands
You’ll find the recipe I used in the latest edition of the free Waitrose late summer harvest recipe booklet and it is also on their website.
The recipe calls for 4 medium egg whites. If you don’t want your kitchen cluttered up with left over egg yolks, then you could try using liquid egg whites which are readily available in the fridge section of most supermarkets. Not sure how much egg white is equivalent to 4 medium egg whites? I didn’t know either so I weighed the egg whites as I made the cakes and can reveal that they were 140 grams (always good to know).
The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute raspberries for the plums. It would also work well using other soft fruits, lemon or even chocolate. Really, you could be as creative as you like.
Friand, according to my French-English dictionary, means “fond of”. Once you have tasted one of these lovely, light as air cakes, you will be fond of them too. Enjoy!
cakecardcloth 