I'm not sure when it was that I first saw apicture of one of the window displays at Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi'sRestaurant "Ottolenghi" in London, but suffice it to say that I lovedeverything about what I saw: theabundance... the beautiful vegetables... the variety of grains... and most of all thefantastical display of miniature desserts (cakes, tarts, meringues, cookies...). I was...and still am...completelyenamored. Regular readers willknow that I cook and bake under the influence of these two talented chefs all thetime. The little cakes I am postingtoday make frequent appearances in their displays, so I think it is safe to saythat I first became aware of them because of my admiration for the Ottolenghichefs. This particular recipe is in factadapted from one of theirs.
If you have never heard of a friand (pronouncedfryʹ uhnd), let me introduce you.Friands are little muffin-sized cakes that are popular in Australia andNew Zealand. The word Friand is actuallyFrench (pronounced freeʹ ahn) and means "tasty morsel". The cakes themselves are almost identical toa French petit four called a financier. Bothcakes are made of roughly equal quantities of egg whites, melted butter, sugarand a blend of all purpose (plain) and nut flours.
As far as I am able to tell, the most significant differencebetween them is twofold: When makingfinanciers, the melted butter is always browned first. When making friands, it appears that thesugar used is always powdered (icing) sugar. Iwould also add that in my experience, friands tend to have a higher percentageof sugar. They are quite sweet. I like to eat cake for breakfast, but I wouldprobably not choose a friand for breakfast...they are definitely a teatime/dessert treat. 
Some will tell you that another difference is thatfriands usually have added fruit...sometimes bits of chocolate. But since more and more you will seefinanciers made with added fruit, I'm not sure this distinction is particularlyvalid. To be honest, I think the best definition is that the friand is the Down Under version of afinancier. A financier is, after all, a tastymorsel.
Both financiers and friands are usually made withalmond meal/flour. But you can of coursemake them with all kinds of nut flours.Almond flour is widely available these days...other nut flours, not somuch. Occasionally I will see hazelnutflour. But I have never seen pistachioflour. (Of course, that doesn't mean itisn't out there). I use a drum-stylerotary grater, fitted with the finest drum, to grind small quantities of nutsinto nut flours. You can attempt togrind nuts to a flour in your food processor, but even if you are able to do sowithout creating nut butter, you will find that instead of a fluffy, flour-liketexture, you will have produced something that is rather oily and has the heavytexture of sand. It might make anacceptable cake...but the texture would not be as light. If you like to bake with nut flours, it isdefinitely worth seeking out a special nut grinder/grater of some kind.
The texture of a friand is probably not what you might expect. They are often compared to muffins, but their texture is not muffin-like atall. They are tender and moist (like agood muffin)...but whereas a muffin is supposed to be light and airy, a friandis rich and dense (in fact, rather pound cake-like). One of the particular qualities that I love inboth financiers and friands is the browned, tender-chewy exterior crust. If you were to try to dig in with your fork,you might decide you had encountered a tough or a hard cake. But if you pick it up and eat it with yourfingers, you will discover that it isn't in the slightest bit tough orhard. Rather, it has a definite andpleasant chew before dissolving into sweet, nutty and buttery deliciousness inyour mouth. 
The particular texture of the crust as I havedescribed it is most pronounced on the day the friands are made. After that, the exterior softens a bit. It is still very good...just not thesame. Some might in fact prefer thetexture on the second or third day.Since the cakes can be iced with a powdered sugar glaze that tends todissolve when it comes in contact with moisture—like the moisture in the fruitscattered over the top of the cake—it is best to ice the cakes on the day theywill be served. It is not the end of theworld if the icing dissolves a bit, it's just not as pretty (they still tastegreat). You can also forgo the icingaltogether and serve the cakes with nothing more than a dusting of powderedsugar.
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| An iced friand on the second day... you can see bits of strawberry peekingthrough where the icing has begun to dissolve... |
Finally, for those of you who have been followingmy blog for a long time now, you might realize that the presence of a pistachiocake can only mean one thing. That'sright...an anniversary. I began keepingFor Love of the Table seven years ago today.Ever since the first anniversary I have always posted somethingpistachio on the day (most often a cake). It's difficult to believe it has been so long. I will have to sit down to a bite of caketo mark the occasion. I hope you will vicariously join me. And, I hope you will continueto visit For Love of the Table...where, for the foreseeable future, I will continueto share all kinds of delicious things to cook and bake...so that you will beable to share them with the people you love...at your table.
Pistachio & Strawberry Friands
185g unsalted butter melted and cooled (170g plus 15gfor brushing the pans)
75g all purpose flour
40g finely ground almonds (almond meal/flour)
85g finely ground pistachios
225g powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 t. salt
180g egg whites (from 6 eggs)
1 t. orange zest
110g strawberries, washed, dried, hulled and cut intoa 1/4-inch dice
1 recipe strawberry glaze (below), optional
3 to 4 T. chopped toasted pistachios for garnish,optional
Powdered sugar for garnish, optional
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Usea tablespoon (15g) of the melted butter to generously brush the bottoms andsides of the pan(s) (see note). Thisbuttery coating helps create the crisp edges that are one of the specialcharacteristics of a friand. Chill thepan(s) to firm up the butter.
Placeall of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Place the egg whites in a medium bowl and using aclean whisk, whip the whites until very frothy/foamy. It isn't necessary towhip them to soft peaks—you just want to loosen them up a bit.
Spread the dry ingredients over the top of the eggwhites. Add the zest to the cooledbutter and pour this mixture over the dry ingredients. Fold all the ingredients into the egg whites,mixing just until the batter is smooth and uniform. You may use the batter immediately or coverand chill for a day or two.
Dividethe batter among the pans using an ice cream scoop. Fill each of the pans 2/3 to 3/4 of the wayup. Scatter the strawberries over thetop of each of the cakes, dividing evenly.(If any of the berries are touching the edges of the pans, use a fork togently pull them away from the edge.)
Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet and place in themiddle of the preheated oven (if your baking sheet is very thick or heavy,place it in the oven while the oven is preheating and then just place the cakepans directly on the preheated sheet). Bake for 20 to 35 minutes (depending onthe size and depth of your pan) until the friands have risen, are golden aroundthe edges and springy to the touch. Askewer inserted into the center of one should come out clean.
Take the friands out of the oven and leave them tocool in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes.Don't allow them to stay too long in the molds or they will stick. Turn the cakes out (running a sharp knifearound the edges first if they seem to want to stick). Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool.
Tofinish: Dredge the cooled cakes withpowdered sugar or ice them with the strawberry glaze. To glaze the cakes, place them on a wire rackset over a baking sheet. Drop a blob ofglaze on the top of each cake and spread out to the edges, allowing it to slowlydrip down the sides. Before the glaze isset, sprinkle the top of each cake with a few chopped pistachios.
Un-iced,the friands will keep—in an airtight container—for several days. Glazing/icing should be done on the day theywill be served.
Noteon pans: Youmay use any shape of small, muffin-sized cake tin that you like as long as youbutter it well and don't fill it any more than 2/3 to 3/4 full. You can use a muffin pan...or small loafpans. I use a couple of individualcheesecake pans. These are similar to 6cup muffin tins, but have straight sides and removable bottoms. The holes in my pans are two inches deep and2 3/4 inches in diameter. I only fillthem about half full (75g batter each) because I don't want the cakes to be toolarge. The recipe makes 10 cakes of thissize. You could probably use individualporcelain/china/stoneware ramekins too.
Strawberry Glaze:
55g. strawberries, washed, dried and hulled
1 T. milk
1/2 t. lemon juice
225g. powdered sugar
Placethe berries in a small bows and smash with a fork. Pass through a fine sieve, pressing the pulpagainst the sides. Measure out 25 gramsof strained strawberry purée. Place thepowdered sugar in a small bowl and add the measured berry purée, the milk andthe lemon juice. Stir with a rubberspatula to make a thick, smooth glaze. Itshould be just thick enough so that it will slowly drip down the sides of thecakes when spread on the top. Adjust theconsistency with milk, strawberry purée or powdered sugar. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.
Recipe adapted from Ottolenghi and Waitrose
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