Vanilla Blueberry Friands

Forgive my absense - winter is upon us and my motivation levels always sink when it's cold!  However, nothing says 'cosy' to me than a little bit of home baking.  One of my favourite little treats that I want to share with you are friands.  Friands probably originated from the 'financier' - which is a little French cake - and I love anything French!  Almond meal is one of the main friand ingredients, making these friands a light, moist teacake.  Recently I came across custom-made friand tins in the supermarket and decided to make some.  The tins are similiar to muffin tins, however are made to give your baking the eye-catching friand shape.

Grease your tin with some melted butter, and preheat the oven to about 180 degrees.  Make sure the tray is in the middle of the oven so that the friands don't burn on top when cooking.  Melt 100 grams of butter and set it aside to cool.

Carefully separate 5 eggs and whisk the egg whites in a big bowl until they're foamy.  Sift into the bowl 1 cup of icing sugar, 1/4 cup plain flour, and 150 grams of almond meal, also adding the melted butter.  Mix in a few teaspoons of vanilla essence and stir until just combined.  Distribute the mixture evenly into the friand tins.

You can choose fresh or frozen berries - either work well.  Add about 5 berries to the top of each friand, or you can push them a little deeper if you want the berries in the middle of the friand rather than just on top.  You can also sprinkle the tops with a some shaved almonds if you choose.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden and they spring back when lightly pressed.  Remove from the oven and allow to stand for five minutes. 

Run a knife around the outside of each friand before turning them out of the tin.  Serve warm dusted lightly with icing sugar.

 

The friands can be stored in an airtight container or even frozen.  You can serve them at room temperature, or even heat them a little in the microwave, adding some fresh berries on the side for an extra touch. 

Happy baking!

Joanna