Pecan Friands with Pear and Maple Syrup

This was a very successful experiment. I used a basic friend recipe, replacing the ground almonds with ground pecans, and some of the sugar with maple syrup. The resulting friands were a little damper and heavier than normal ones, with hints of sticky toffee pudding. The characteristic slightly crispy outside and soft inside that you get in a friend made with ground almonds was turned up a notch with the pecan version, making them irresistible to me. I wanted a more autumnal addition to these friands- berries often make an appearance- so for this batch I stirred some finely diced pear into the batter.

I did notice that when they were cooking, the friands seemed to leak a bit of butter, and I when they were in the oven they looked like they weren’t going to work- almost as if the mixture had separated. Once they were out and cooled a bit they were fine, so don’t worry if this happens to you.

Ingredients

125g pecans

185g unsalted butter

6 egg whites

180g icing sugar

75g plain flour

80ml maple syrup

1 pear, peeled and finely chopped

Whole pecans- enough to decorate

Method

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees. Grind the pecans as finely as you can in a food processor. Set aside. Using a pastry brush, coat the insides of a friand tin, or, if like me, you don’t have one used a cupcake tin, or mini-muffin tin. I used a 24-bun mini muffin tin, and this filled 21 of the moulds.

In a roomy bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy- not stiff, just bubbly. Sift in the flour and icing sugar, and fold in with a metal spoon. Add the ground pecans and maple syrup. Stir in the finely chopped pear. Spoon in the tin-this is runnier than regular friand batter, so a little more care is required. Stud the top of each friand with a pecan, and place in oven. Bake for about 15 minutes. Let them cool for a bit before gently removing, running a butter knife around the edges of each cake to loosen them from the tin. If you have been thorough with greasing the tins, they should come out neatly. 

Two Types of Friand: Lemon and Blueberry, Raspberry and Dark Chocolate

These served as dessert for a Saturday lunch with friends last week. These aren't my usual style, I prefer to make puddings that are more mass catering style than individual chichi things. But I do like friands, and they look very pretty despite my lack of ability at presentation. They don't have to be made together, but the light and dark contrast in taste and colour contrast is pleasing.

I still don't own a friand pan, so I made these in a 24-pan mini muffin pan. I had batter leftover, but the wonderful thing about friands is that the batter keeps, as there is no raising element in in. I kept the remaining batter in the fridge for two days before baking them and they turned out perfectly.

To make them, I used the Waitrose Basic Friand recipe, and divided the mixture in two, putting the lemon zest in only one of the bowls of batter. To the lemony one, I also added a tablespoon of lemon juice and 150g blueberries. In the other half, I added 75g melted dark chocolate, cooled, and 150g raspberries. They were then baked at 200C for 15 minutes.

I actually used thawed frozen raspberries, and quite liked the result- the berries release a bit of juice when thawing, so when you mix it into the batter the resulting friand tastes even raspberrier.

Sour Cherry and Orange Friands

Friands are almond patisserie popular in Australia, which very closely resemble the french financiers. They are both small cakes made with ground almonds, slightly crisp outside and softly chewy in the centre. However, there are hundreds of variations on the friand recipe, fruit, chocolate and other nuts being added to make different flavours, whereas the financier usually remains plain. The other main difference is the shape; friands are small ovals, financiers are rectangular in order to resemble gold blocks, hence the name.

You don't need a special friand tin, these work well in small muffin tins too.

Ingredients

185g unsalted butter
6 medium egg whites
225g icing sugar
75g plain flour
125g ground almonds 
Finely grated zest of one large orange
170g bottled sour cherries, drained.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C, putting in a baking sheet to warm. Melt the butter over a low heat. Using a pastry brush, generously brush a 12-bun muffin or friand tin with some of the butter. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy. They don't have to form peaks, you just want them frothed up. Sieve over the icing sugar and plain flour and scatter over the almonds, orange zest and cherries. Fold them in with a spoon, then mix in the rest of the butter until it is completely combined into the batter. Divide equally into the tins, then place in the oven on top of the baking sheet. Cook for around 20 minutes until they are lightly browned on top. These are best eaten on the day they are made.