i am liking this
Recipe: friands
It’s rare that we get completely overcast days around here. The sun almost always makes an appearance. Even with clouds plastering the sky, the light is rather bright – especially when it is reflected off of all that snow in winter. We’ve had snow all weekend with only a couple of sucker holes (windows of blue sky) in an otherwise monochromatic landscape. Our snow is fluffy and squeaky – *squeak* *squeak* with each step. It offers no resistance when you kick through it and it sticks to Kaweah’s schnoz when she sniffs about for dead things.
that bright blob is the sun
on our walk this evening
she may be getting old, but she still loves to romp in the snow
A few weeks ago I was testing out a recipe I had been wanting to make for years. Friands. I had heard about them, seen them, even have several recipes for friands in various books, notes, and bookmarked blog posts. They are so cute that it’s hard to believe I didn’t get around to making them sooner. They are based in large part on almond meal and almond is one of my favorite flavors.
mix the almond meal with the powdered sugar and flour
stir in the egg whites
I made these friands several times. The first time, I spooned too much batter into the forms and the fruit became completely enveloped such that you never knew they were there until you bit into one. The second time I made them, they turned out beautifully and were distributed to neighbors, and Jeremy’s department. The third time I made a double batch so there were enough to hand out at Chinese New Year’s Eve (for folks to eat first thing in the morning on Chinese New Year’s Day so sweet things come out of their mouths all year) plus extras for Jeremy to enjoy – which he did. It’s so simple to make.
combine the butter with the batter
set the fruit on top
This recipe also leaves you with a lot of egg yolks, which is why I was making four different flavors of ice cream the same week I made the friands. For me, it’s a moist cake version of a French macaron because it is based on egg whites, almond meal, powdered sugar… And I love the fact that they are cute, short, tiny cakes. The combination of the almond and the raspberries is my favorite. A perfect little present.
they look like they’re smiling at you
great for breakfast, tea, any time
Friands
[print recipe]
slightly modified from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics 2
4 oz. (125g) butter, unsalted
1 cup almond meal
1 2/3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/3 cup raspberries, fresh (or any berries)
Preheat oven to 350Β°F (180Β°C). Place butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook until melted and a light golden color. Set aside. Place the almond meal, confectioner’s sugar, flour, and baking powder in a bowl and whisk to combine. Stir the egg whites into the dry mix until combined. Pour in the butter and stir until completely combined. Stir in the almond extract (optional). Grease a dozen 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins or tins of any type. I like my square tins better (grease more as needed – Donna says ten in her recipe, but I made 14). Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into each tin and plop the a few berries on top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden and spring back when you touch them. Makes a dozen (or more).
February 21st, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Of course, I’m jealous of the raspberries once again… Can I trade you some perfect mangoes for them? :) I can just imagine how delicious this would be – especially with a side of four different kinds of ice cream, hehe
February 21st, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Those really look awesome. The recipe does seem a bit macaron-esque. I will have to try this recipe soon.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:12 pm
They look so cute I want to throw a tea party just to have an excuse to share them. I too am jealous of the raspberries. There are no fresh ones available my me right now, so I’ll have to improvise. Thank you for sharing.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:22 pm
I love how “friand” looks like the word “friend”. These look so cute!!
February 21st, 2010 at 11:46 pm
So cute! I love how the raspberries are nestled cozily in the batter.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:12 am
i love that mini cake pan! Those friands look so tempting!
Cheers,
Rosa
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:12 am
So cute! And almond is one of my favorite flavors too…. they look lovely and with the almond + raspberries, a little dose of summer in the winter!
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:28 am
I’m going to go get the almond meal out of the freezer. There are fresh strawberries & blueberries in the house, & frozen raspberries. I might try one or 2 with the frozen just because I love raspberries the most. This will be a great thing to do with the kids who have a snow day today!
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:35 am
P.S. If your youthful & beautiful grandma lets you know when it’s fresh bamboo shoot season, please pass it on!
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:54 am
Just found your blog, I am a cancer survivor too. Love your recipes and pictures!
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
Wow, cake-version of macaroons? Sounds great, and without the five day egg-white aging period [what a pain!]. I’d have to pair those raspberries with a few chocolate chunks:)
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:08 am
That is an exceptionally beautiful picture of Kaweah. Her eyes are amazing.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:58 am
Great photos, as usual. Following along the recipe just wouldn’t be the same – makes me want to bake. Keep it up!
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 am
Thank you! I whip up some ice cream when we’re expecting guests, but I haven’t found something we love to use the egg whites for yet, especially when time is short. Kaweah is still adorable — I love how you capture her personality :) Our dog has tons of it, but I’m camera-powerless! :)
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I love the snow photos. Kaweah is such a sweetie. And of course I love the friands. Gorgeous!
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Those are cute and look delicious. Sorta like a clafouti too.
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Those are absolutely stunning. Your photography is out of this world.
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Friands are wonderful – so simple and tasty. I giggled thinking about the squeaky snow – it’s too warm here, so our snow just slushes and splatters as we walk through it. Oh well, at least we have some :)
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:03 pm
i ammm soo making these with the strawberries my mom just bought. i have never really made a friand before and yours just beckons me to make one like asap:)
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Sometimes when I look at Kaweah’s eyes I can hear him talking. I was put off friands when I once had one that was heavy and cluggy. So horrible I’ve never forgotten the day or the cafe in Sydney. Yours look nice and light.
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
These look utterly pristine – I’m shocked at how little bleeding you got from the raspberries.
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
These are looking absolutely delicious. I love the flavors in these.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I’m smiling because this weekend, after I made some candied lemons….aka Jen, I sat down to consider making strawberry friands (which I only learnt about a few weeks ago, thanks to a failed macaron experiment). Now, I didn’t have any strawberries at home so….my egg whites are still in the fridge. This is a must make tomorrow! They look stunning…….
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Jen, those look beautiful! Gorgeous pictures, as always…any shot of that Kaweah always brightens my day. Soooo sweet.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
these look absolutely adorable and so light…really makes me want to get a square tin pan! definitely an impressive treat!
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:29 pm
i’m torn between which i love more…the photo of Kaweah or the photo of the smiling friand!
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:29 am
Squeaky snow, huh? I love how these actually DO look like they’re smiling, and also how I kept reading “friend” for “friand” like others here. Gorgeous!
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:51 am
Ended up helping my neighbors cope with the tragic death of one of their dogs today, & that was just the worst thing that happened on a day filled with problems & frustrations. Luckily I had made the friands early & we had at least one bright spot in our day. BTW, frozen, unthawed, raspberries seemed to work well. Delicious. Thanks for introducing me to something new & different.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:00 am
Lovely snowy pictures! These tea cakes are precious, Im loving the almond meal in them! YUM!
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:45 am
I am liking these too! Love the pop of raspberry color.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 am
I love any cake with almond meal in it. Just gives it that nice, slightly chewy texture. And the raspberries look like little jewels.
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:32 am
you are the closest thing to an asian julia childs that i have found online. i’ve always wanted to find a good asian american food blog, and you are it. if only food network would give you a show.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Adorable! They look delicious, and really cute. Now I will put a pan like that on my wish list so I can try too!
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Oh yeah…high favorite at the house! I love making them with deep dark brown butter and apricots…wonderful! I can’t stop with any kind of friands, financiers, etc…
February 25th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I was wondering what was going on with spelling ‘friend’ long! Lol! These friands look delicious, thank you for introducing us to them!
February 25th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
where do you get a pan like that? i need that.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
These are absolutely cute!! And I adore the little square pans that you have! Oh my, I need to start looking around. And I have just the perfect mini square pan liners for this. But I need that pan first!
February 26th, 2010 at 12:36 am
lovely little cakes! they look yummy!
February 27th, 2010 at 12:00 am
I just put a batch of these in the oven! I can hardly wait to eat them, the mixture tasted so good haha
Thanks for the recipe!
February 27th, 2010 at 10:53 am
These sound (and look!) delicious. You are an incredibly talented photographer and chef(!) and I love your blog. I wonder though, where in the world did you find a square many-welled tin like that?? Have I been looking in all the wrong places?
February 28th, 2010 at 2:13 am
I’ve always avoided from friands and macarons because 1) I have to skin and blitz my almonds (haaaard work) and 2) I’d have all those egg yolks left over =(
I guess it’s time for some custard-based ice cream then?
February 28th, 2010 at 7:20 am
Ohh yum! I don’t have any raspberries around, but I will try bits of medjool dates on top. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
February 28th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Wow, these turned out beautifully! The recipe sounds great, I love the combination of almonds and raspberries. I can’t wait to give these a try!
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 am
So cute . . . Friands are the same thing as financiers? This recipe reminds me of a recipe from the LA Times for raspberry financiers from Little Next Door. (The recipe was printed in 2007, so it has been over 2 years that I have been thinking about making this recipe . . )
March 4th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
For the folks who have asked after the little mini square pans – I got two of them at Target in the US. I think you can order them online too.
As for frozen fruit, yes, you can use frozen fruit if fresh isn’t available.
Anna – they are TOTALLY cute :) Perfect for a tea.
Kristin – I’ll try! :)
Melissa – Kaweah’s eyes are always in search of a treat!
Crystal – I think using up egg whites is the easy part :) I make French macarons, coconut macaroons, meringues, pavlovas, friands, Swiss meringue buttercream frosting – it’s all awesome!
Holly – me too. I think it might be because they are set atop the batter and not completely in it?
Daisy – you’re too sweet. If they gave me a show I’d go running in the other direction ;) ha ha ha!
Laura – I don’t know if they are the same? There must be some difference. Financiers are on my todo list too :)
March 5th, 2010 at 7:08 am
[…] adapted to be made into individual portions, but I was charmed when I came across these Friands on Use Real Butter. So cute! I had several jars of almonds *in the shell* that had to be cracked. So, as my friends […]
May 11th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I made this two days in a row! Since I did not have cute little square pans and wanted them to be distinguished from muffins, I made this in a 8″ round pan. We polished the first one off at one meal and my children asked for it the next night. Since I had left over almond meal… why not?
You have such fabulous recipes! Thanks!
November 14th, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Just baked it for the first time, delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
November 17th, 2023 at 9:49 am
So glad you like them! Financiers are my favorites. I’ve been baking a new version that is gluten-free and just as good. Will have to post that when I get back to blogging (hopefully in a month or so). xo