Pistachio & raspberries Friands

Friands are very popular in Australia and are similar to French financiers. Those small nutty, crumbly and moist cakes are very versatile - can be done with different flours, as well as flavorings. Every person can adapt it to their individual preferences. What makes Friands ideal is the minimal amount of effort necessary to prepare them - they are great even for complete beginners to embark on their baking adventure with. So not to waste any more time - grab yourself a bowl and a mixer and let's start!

Pistachio and raspberries Friands

Ingredients

• (Makes 12 medium friands)

• 120g melted butter

• 85g flour

• ¾ tbsp baking powder

• 42g ground almonds

• 36g ground hazelnuts

• 36g ground pistachios

• 135g sugar

• 5 egg whites / 200g

• 2 teaspons vanilla extract

• Fresh raspberries

• Chopped pistachios

• Icing sugar for dusting

Equipment

• mixer

• bowl

• muffin tins

Method

Before we start mixing anything you will probably ask where to get ground pistachios or hazelnuts. If you can find the latter in some markets, I have not seen ground pistachios anywhere though. What you do is buy the pistachios kernels and put them in the coffee grinder or food processor - and voila - you have the freshly ground pistachios;)

With this recipe you can also stick to the ground almonds completely - just substitute the other ground nuts with almonds. Or if you want to do the chocolate version you can substitute two tablespoons of ground nuts with cocoa powder - that's how adaptable this cakes are!!

Now let's get to baking!

1. Preheat the oven to 140oC/285F with fan [150oC/305F without fan]

2. Put the egg whites into the mixing bowl - big enough to contain all the ingredients in the end. Whisk the egg whites until fluffy but not completely stiff.

3. Add all other ingredients (apart of fresh raspberries and chopped pistachios). Mix until combined.

4. Put the mixture into the separate muffin tins up to 2/3 of the tin height. If you are using metal tins - you need to coat the walls with some butter and dust with flour - so the batter does not stick to the walls. If you are using the silicone ones - as shown in the video - then you do not have to do anything to prepare them (that's why I love them!).

5. Shake the tins well to remove any air bubbles - so the friands rise evenly. Decorate with some fresh raspberries and chopped pistachios.

6. Put the tins in the oven to the middle shelf. Bake for 20-25 minutes (it depends on how big are your tins). When they are ready? They rise to at least tin height and are coloured well - but not browned, when you insert the wooden stick into them - it should come out clean (no raw batter sticking to it), and at last when you touch them they should be quite firm.

7. Take them out of the oven and let them cool in room temperature for around 15 minutes before you take them out of the tins.

8. When cooled you can dust them with icing sugar before serving.

Enjoy!