Once again I was reminded of the punnet of raspberries that was still sitting at the back of the fridge. The boyfriend has been on his weekly food dumping round again and he gave me that all too familiar look … “Are these raspberries going to be used up anytime soon? Or should I throw them out now before they start to rot?” I knew those luscious berries were now on borrowed time … I had to come up with something soon or they would indeed end up in the bin, and I hate waste.
So out came the baking books and various other food magazines. I picked up one with a Donna Hay recipe for pistachio & raspberry friands, and then it hit me … I shall make a chocolate version with the raspberries! Never made friands before and that got me thinking ~ what exactly is a friand and how is it any different from a regular muffin? I soon found out that these little French cakes are always baked in oval or oblong trays, and they almost always contain almond meal and egg whites in the batter. Okay, fair enough.
To get Donna Hay’s full original friand recipe, simply click the picture below.
My friand version is an adaptation of her recipe (don’t you just love Donna Hay recipes?), whereby I made her chocolate-hazelnut ones but swapping the hazelnuts for almond meal simply because that was what I had on-hand. And obviously, I also stuffed a raspberry into each baking, and then sprinkling the tops with rolled oats for added texture. You can omit the oats and use flaked almonds instead if you want; decorate them anyway you see fit.
Decadent Chocolate & Raspberry Friands. (adapted from a Donna Hay recipe)
1 cup almond meal
1½ cups icing sugar, sifted
½ cup plain flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder, sifted
½ cup cocoa, sifted
5 eggwhites
140g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 whole raspberries, one for each friand
2 tablespoons rolled oats for decoration
20 g melted dark chocolate for decoration
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Grease a 12-hole friand tray with butter or cake release spray. If you do not have a proper friand tray then simply use a regular 12-hole muffin tray.
Place flour, almond meal, baking powder, icing sugar, cocoa powder into a bowl and sift everything to remove clumps (especially the cocoa powder).
Now add all the wet ingredients in together with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a whisk. How super easy was that, eh?
Fill each muffin hole two-thirds full, and place a raspberry in the centre of each, hole facing upwards.
Sprinkle the rolled oats on the top, then pop the tray into the oven to bake for 20 – 25 mins.
Remove the tray and take out the friands immediately to cool on wire racks.
When completely cool, you can decorate further with melted chocolate for that extra visual effect.
These were exceptionally scrumptious and they went well with my cup of spiced latte. The relatively large amount sugar in the recipe gives the tops of these little cakes an almost brownie-like crust on the top … I love that. And these raspberries were so fragrant and sweet, they complimented the chocolate cake to perfection. Not entirely sure how long these friands will keep in the fridge, but if heavenly taste is anything to go by, they won’t last very long to warrant a stint in the chiller.
These cakes will do very nicely at Christmas parties or as a very romantic Valentine’s day surprise. They will also appeal to those of you who enjoy little mini cakes but aren’t too fond of copious amounts of frosting like those on a cupcake. Today tho, I dedicate these precious little babies to my friend Tara Hirebet, who seems to be having a stressed out day at the office and says she is in need of cake. Tara, even though we can’t meet and I can’t deliver to where you are, I hope you feel better soon. 🙂 Would be better if she could actually tuck into a box of these, but it is what it is and I hope this gesture will suffice.
~ Enjoy! ~
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