Raspberry Friands

Jul 16, 2024

I like to keep my finger on the cake pulse in the wider sugary world and I can’t help noticing that friands seem to have become a bit of a thing these days. Any trendy café worth its salt usually has at least one on offer. And no wonder - it turns out they’re super yum.

The main thing that makes a friand a friand is lots of whipped egg white. The blissful mix in this recipe of light fluffy sponge full to bursting with plump fresh raspberries, I think make it a perfect Summer treat.

If you're making a soft cake like a friand, you need to consider cake cases.....
Softer cake mixes like a friand don’t fare so well in a standard cake case. The cases tend to collapse. Fortunately more robust muffin and cake cases do exist. Lakeland sell these pretty ones by Decora that work really well and you can find plenty of similar ones on line.

This recipe makes 12 friands
6 egg whites
120g butter melted
180g almond flour
250g frozen raspberries
3 tbsp sweetener*
1 tsp vanilla paste
Pinch of salt

*Natural sweetener options could include xylitol, erythritol, allulose. See Alternative Sweeteners page for more info. Each will have slightly different levels of sweetness. Adjust to taste.

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180C
With deeper cake cases it's worth brushing the inside of the cake case with a little melted butter to stop the batter from sticking to the sides.
Mix the almond flour, salt and sweetener together thoroughly.
Melt the butter gently in a pan. Add the vanilla paste and stir in.
Add the butter and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Whisk egg whites until they’re frothing but not stiff. And stir into the cake batter.
Keep 1 raspberry back for the top of each cake. Put the rest into the cake batter and stir around.
Spoon into the cake cases, smooth the top of each cake, popping the final raspberry on the top for decoration.
Bake for 20 minutes until the tops of the cake are starting to brown.
Cool on a wire tray and store in the fridge.