Summer Berry Friands
Fruity little almond cakes with a dollop of home-made jam in the centre - a great afternoon pick-me-up and a long-standing favourite with our customers
- Equipment: 5cm cylindrical-shaped silicone moulds or a mini muffin tin
- 130g unsalted butter
- 160g caster sugar
- 80g ground almonds
- 50g plain (or gluten-free) flour
- 130g egg whites
- 150g seasonal berries (or stone fruits, figs, rhubarb, chopped)
- 100g Raspberry Vanilla Jam
- 50g apricot jam, sieved
- 50g pistachios, roughly chopped
Brown the butter by bringing it to the boil in a pan. Allow it to bubble fiercely for five to eight minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula regularly. When the butter starts to smell sweet and nutty and the boiling foam rises up in the pan, pour the hot liquid (including the brown flecks and scrapings from the bottom of the pan) into a heatproof bowl. Allow the butter to cool, stirring occasionally as it firms up.
Weigh the sugar, almonds and flour into a bowl and whisk until combined. Still using the whisk, gradually add the egg whites, then the cooled browned butter in three stages until absorbed and no longer oily-looking. Cover the mix and leave to rest for a couple of hours or in the fridge overnight.
Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
Grease your mini cake moulds or muffin tin. Place half the fruit at the bottom of the moulds, then pipe or scoop your friand mix to come a third of the way up the sides. Use a small spoon to place the jam into the middle of each cake before topping with a dollop of the remaining batter.Your moulds will be about two-thirds full. Decorate with more fruit on top.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the moulds or tin after 15 minutes. Use a skewer to check the cakes – it should come out clean. Cool for five minutes before removing from the moulds/tin and cooling on a rack.
Warm the sieved apricot jam and brush over the top of each cake, then sprinkle with the chopped pistachio nuts.
