Friands are very “café chic”. They are petit cakes with a dense yet moist centre prepared from a large quantity of egg whites without flour, just plenty of ground almonds.

Ingredients

• 175 grams butter, melted
• 6 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1½ cups ground almonds
• 1½ cups icing sugar
• ½ cup desiccated coconut
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Method

1. In a bowl put the butter, egg whites, almonds, icing sugar, coconut and vanilla essence and gently mix until just combined.
2. Pour the mixture into 10 well-greased and paper-lined friand or muffin tins. Scatter the blueberries on top dividing them equally among the tins.
3. Bake at 190°C for 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown and cooked when tested with a skewer. Leave to cool on in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out.

Cooks Tips

- You can substitute the blueberries with any other berry in season such as raspberries, boysenberries (halved) and blackberries. - Friands will freeze well. Defrost in the microwave for 1-2 minutes on high. Time will depend on the wattage of your microwave. - Friand tins are individual oval-shaped tins. They are available at good cook shops, though muffin tins will work just as well.