Raspberry friands

Light little French-inspired almond cakes, perfect for an afternoon treat.

A friand is traditionally made only with egg whites, but I can never get my act together to use the egg yolks later and they end up staring at me accusingly from the fridge every time I open it. I developed this waste-free recipe using whole eggs and it’s so much easier, too – no whisking required.

The other advantage of using the yolks is that I’ve been able to eliminate the enormous quantity of butter which would be needed to keep them moist, though you won’t believe they’re dialled down when you taste them. Thank you, almond meal.

Nine times out of ten, I use frozen raspberries when I make these as the season for fresh raspberries where I live is, sadly, very short. It makes little difference. If you would like them to be more intensely flavoured, fold a handful of quartered raspberries to the batter before spooning it into the tin.

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Raspberry friands

Makes 12.

125g (5 oz) unsalted butter
50g (2 oz) plain flour, sifted
125g (5 oz) icing sugar, sifted
100g (4 oz) almond meal (ground almonds)
2 eggs
12 whole raspberries
butter and flour, to prepare pans

Set your oven to 180°C (350°F).

Prepare 12 mini muffin pans by melting a teaspoon of butter in the microwave and brushing it into each tin. Dust with flour and tap out the excess. Alternatively, simply line the pans with mini muffin papers.

Melt the larger amount of butter in the microwave and allow it to cool a little so it won’t cook the eggs when it meets them.

Sift icing sugar and flour into a bowl. Add almond meal.

Make a well in the centre. Add eggs and butter. Stir until well combined.

Divide among the prepared pans. Gently press a whole raspberries into the centre of each.

Bake for 16 minutes or until light;y golden. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yum

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