Strawberry Friands

 Friands, traditionally known as fanciers, are a French cake, traditionally made with almond meal. Friand means dainty morsel. They do have a small amount of flour, so can’t be guaranteed as gluten-free, but in many cafés they have made the small adjustment to make them gluten-free. Like all French baked goods, these are not too sweet. I have been disappointed with some I have purchased where the only strawberry was the half on top for decoration. I strongly believe that the chopped strawberries throughout provide some additional moisture and sweetness, but also make this variety of friand stand out from other flavours.

This is the third flavour of friand I have placed on my blog. These are my favourite, but if, like Myles, you prefer the raspberry and pistachio, or the lime and coconut, they are certainly worth a try.

I have used a friand tin to bake these. You can, of course, use a muffin tin - but don’t make them too big. You may need to add an extra 5-10 minutes to the cooking time, depending on the size of your muffin pan.

Makes 12

• 6 large egg whites
• 150 g butter, melted and cooled
• 15 g additional butter, melted
• 125 g almond meal
• 240 g icing sugar
• 75 g plain flour (GF)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 125 g fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
• 6 strawberries, halved lengthways

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C.

Using the 15 g melted butter, generously coat friand tins or muffin tins. Place in the fridge to chill while you prepare the batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, almond meal and plain flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until loosely frothy, but not stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients, then fold through the melted butter and vanilla extract. Finally, fold through the chopped strawberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling each about ¾ full. Place a halved strawberry on top of each friand, pressing down slightly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the friands are golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.