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29 January 2012

Friands with Friends


Meeting friends for brunch anywhere in Melbourne is definitely one of my favourite things to do. Melbourne’s café scene is unlike any other I have seen (OK, so I am biased) and the quality and number cafes in Melbourne serving exceptional and varied menu of all day breakfasts is phenomenal. Also, going out for breakfast with little Miss 2 Yrs. is way easier than attempting to tackle dinner out (for now!). Some of my personal faves are Bluebird in Collingwood; The Hardware Société in City; Tom Phat in Brunswick; Fitzrovia in St Kilda and Cumulus Inc. in City. All adored for their diverse menu, attention to quality ingredients; ability to be creative with flavours and interior design, and genuinely friendly yet cool staff. They just tick all the boxes effortlessly. Recently Mr de Burg took us out to one of the mentioned above for brunch and although I had an amazing bircher and poached fruit, I also tucked into a friand and a canelle. (What? My latte was lonely!) again, those Frenchies combined with all things food just get it so spot on. So as I work up to finding the perfect canelle recipe out there, here I share with you a scrumptious friand recipe. These are to die for, feel free to experiment with other fillings such as raspberries, cherries, apple, rhubarb, chocolate etc., and just get the weight measurement the same. our household devoured all 12 within 1 afternoon. If you don’t have a friand pan, you can use any muffin tin. Make batter the night before if you like and impress your friends with friands when they pop over for a cuppa or brunch.

Stuff from kitchen: 12 mould friand/muffin tin (or more if using mini miffin tin); large mixing bowl; food processor; wooden spoon; cling wrap 

Prep time: 1hr 15 min (1hr is batter resting time), cooking time: 15 min

Almost from my vegie patch:
125gm x blueberries. (OK , time to fess up. we do have blueberries and raspberries growing however they aren’t quite ready to harvest yet, so as blueberries are in season and super cheap, these are from someone else’s vegie patch. I just couldn’t wait!)


Other ingredients:
160gm x unsalted butter chopped (plus a bit more for greasing)
160gm x almond meal
160gm x caster sugar
6 x free-range egg whites
60gm x plain flour (plus a bit for dusting)

Lets do it..
1.       Melt butter in small frypan and put aside to cool
2.       Put almonds, sugar, vanilla and eggwhites into food processor and pulse for about 30 sec
3.       Scrape down sides of food processor, and add flour. Give a quick 5 sec pulse to just mix
4.       Transfer to mixing bowl, add cooled butter and mix gently with wooden spoon until just combined.
5.       Cover in cling wrap, and put in a cool dark place for about an hour (I stashed mine in the pantry)
6.       Preheat oven to 220 degrees
7.       Thoroughly grease pan with butter and lightly flour to coat mould. Turn upside down and tap to remove excess flour.
8.       Stir berries into batter mix and scoop spoonfuls’s into pan and fill to 2/3.
9.       Bake for 15 min or until golden brown and the centre springs back when pressed.
10.   Place on cooling rack for a few minutes before turning out.\

Serve immediately (or keep for upto 3 days). I balance out the sweetness by serving with natural Greek yogurt. You’ll enjoy sharing these decadent and graceful little darlings with friends.

Soundtrack for friands and coffee with friends: Rockaferry by Duffy

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful presentation - I was able to taste the passion and love you have for your hobby and I commend you for the flame you light in peoples' bellies. Well done dearest Niece.
    PS We harvested many punnets of blueberries this year.

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