in praise
of freshly
baked
friandes
makes 12
This recipe was kindly shared many years ago by Lucia’s Pizza and Spaghetti Bar. It is just the best like all of the wonderful little and big cakes they make and sell on a daily basis.
Lucia’s Pizza and Spaghetti Bar is an Adelaide institution and can be found on the western wall of the Adelaide Central Markets.
A friande is traditionally made in oval straight sides forms.
AO 27 July 2020
baked today
eaten
TODAY
183g unsalted butter, melted but not hot + about 20g very soft butter to butter the moulds
154g egg white, room temperature
192g pure icing sugar, sieved or 192g caster sugar powdered in a Thermomix or similar + extra for dusting the friandes
½ a 12 cm vanilla pod, split and scraped seeds only
173g blanched almond meal
58g plain flour + 20g for dusting the forms
fruit – blueberries are best because they don’t weep with heat, however, we quite like raspberries and black berries in season.
Depending on size of berries 5-6 per friande is good.
yummy
mummy!
Fill you mixing bowl with hot tap water. Butter and flour the forms and knock out any excess flour. Melt the butter and set it to one side. Drain the water, dry the mixing bowl and weigh in the egg white. Whisk the egg white until you have soft peaks and then add the sugar a little at a time; add the vanilla.
Working with a spatula by hand add the almond meal, mix in then sift in the flour and mix in and finally running the butter down the side of the bowl. Carefully fold in the butter making sure it is fully incorporated by checking the bottom of the bowl.
pre heat over to 175°C
Roughly half fill the friande forms with the mixture and press 3-4 berries into the mixture, but do not push them to the bottom. Divide the remaining mix between the moulds and press the remaining fruit into the tops.
Cook for 20 minutes or until they ever so slightly shrink from the edges and are a little crisped on the edges. Stand on a rack for not more than 10 minutes [1]. Using a small cake spatula make sure the edges are free and invert them onto a tray and then turn them right side up. Dust with icing sugar.
[1] Straight from the oven they are very fragile so it is a fine balance between letting them cool a little and not letting them go cold where they will be stuck in the form.
"
straight from
the french kitchen
baked and eaten
the same day
Show off a little, well, why not?? The friande mix holds very well. This allows one to make the mix and fill the form a couple of hours in advance, refrigerate and cook so that they come straight from the oven.
They do take a few minutes longer to cook coming straight from the fridge, but hell, still warm they are just divine!
We can always tell when that disgusting spray used instead of butter and flour. It’s so obvious, not just the taste, which is very different, but the colour of the baked good s completely different! Take the time and put in the love and NEVER use it!