Last weekend we went shopping at Bicester Village--an outlet mall type of place, but very British--and I found myself irresistibly drawn into Villeroy & Boch where I proceeded to swoon over several very expensive platters and the world's shiniest cutlery. I'm so glad that Lucas isn't at the stage of grabbing big objects otherwise we'd have had a very expensive outing--that shop is packed to the gills with gorgeous things and we probably shouldn't have attempted to take the pushchair in there in the first place.
After lots of um-ing and ah-ing, I settled on a beautiful plate and bowl combo as seen in the Beef Stifado that I made a few days ago and also the world's most funky cup and saucer. They have these in both coffee cup and espresso cup sizes and a variety of colours, but I really liked the blockiness of this design against all the curves. I'm still reeling from how much I've spent on a cup and saucer but just look at it! You don't get the full effect of the wavy plate or the funky asymmetric cup in this picture, but even so! Isn't it the cutest thing ever?
Now, while this does make for a very stylish cup of coffee, it's just crying out for a darling little cake and since I was already in a self-indulgent mood, I splurged at Lakeland and ordered a friand tin. Everyone I've enthused to about finally finding a friand tin has been rather bemused. What's a friand? And then when I explain, this leads to, but why can't you just use a muffin tin?
So, what is a friand? A friand is an oval financier. And what's a financier? It's a small French cake, traditionally baked in an oblong mould--producing little cakes shaped like ingots of gold--using ground almonds, lashings of butter and some sugar. Friands have really taken off in Australia and New Zealand--no idea why--and there they go wild with all sorts of flavourings.
As for why you wouldn't want to use a muffin tin... well, of course you could, but having eaten one this afternoon, I'm pretty sure that you get a much greater surface area with friand tins, which is of particular interest when you get such a fabulously chewy crust on the cakes. I swear, the crust was almost the best part!
I opted to make rhubarb friands, with a healthy sprinkling of flaked almonds on top, purely because (a) I had some flaked almonds to use up and (b) it's almost the end of rhubarb season here and I'd managed to somehow forget about it. I live for rhubarb season! I'm stashing some in the freezer for the beginning of strawberry season so that I can make a lovely frozen torte. I may nip back for some more as I quite fancy a jar of rhubarb chutney too....
Anyway, back to the friands. Rhubarb always works well with almonds so I wasn't worried that the combination would fail; no, what concerned me was whether the rhubarb puree would stay put in the centre of each friand.
Phew! Still there.... I made quite a stiff puree of rhubarb, froze it, then squidged squares of the puree into the half-filled friand tins before filling up with the rest of the batter. I did rap the tin on the counter before baking in an attempt to get rid of air bubbles, but as you can see from the picture, I didn't rap hard enough. That's a huge hole!
The acerbic flavour of the rhubarb survived its twice-cooked adventures admirably. It was still mouth-puckeringly delicious and it squidged out as I bit in. The rest of the friand was pretty amazing. I can see why they're so popular now! I loved the contrast between the chewy crust, fluffy crumb and the juicy sweetness of the rhubarb.
All in all, it's a good thing that my tin only makes six at a time. Friands are addictive!
Rhubarb Friands
Makes 6
100g icing sugar
65g plain flour
70g ground almonds
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large egg whites
6 cubes of frozen rhubarb puree (see below)
20g flaked almonds
Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan oven.) Brush holes of friand (or muffin tin) with some of the melted butter. Set aside.
Sift flour and icing sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in the ground almonds.
Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until frothy--stop well before the soft peak stage, you're just looking to loosen them not whip loads of air in--and fold the egg whites into the almond mixture. Add the melted butter and fold in until just combined.
Fill the holes half-way then press a cube of rhubarb puree into the centre of each hole. Cover with the remaining batter then rap the tin sharply on the counter to drive out any air bubbles. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
Bake for 15 minutes, turn the tin around and bake for another 5--a total of 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool to lukewarm.
Best eaten when barely warm, which is a marvellous excuse to scoff them all on the same day!
Rhubarb puree
400g forced rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths
100g caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 180C. Toss the rhubarb and sugar together in an ovenproof dish, cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the rhubarb is collapsed on itself.
Strain the liquor off and puree the rhubarb. Fill six slots in an ice-cube tray with some of the puree. Freeze until solid. Stir the liquor into the remainder of the puree, chill, and churn into sorbet when you can be bothered.
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Comments
What a lovely recipe. I purchased some espresso cups like yours and I love them. Glad to see you back and posting!
1. Posted by Helen on March 8, 2007
I make a muffin similar to this with tonnes of different fruit and put strawberry puree into an icing thingie and shoot into the middle of the muffin.
Oh and before I forget and am late, tell Mr W Happy Birthday from this house.
2. Posted by Kristin on March 8, 2007
You have rhubarb already? We are still a month or so away from having anything up in the garden. I'll save this recipe until the rhubarb comes up!
3. Posted by Lydia on March 11, 2007
I'm using forced rhubarb, Lydia. Its exactly the same species as the rhubarb you're familiar with but its grown by candlelight in dark sheds which causes the stems to be very long, tender and a glorious crimson colour. Alas, it's a short season--roughly January to the end of March.
After the season ends, then we can get garden rhubarb from about mid-April onwards. The only problem is that the shops usually only sell the forced rhubarb as it's the most attractive and you tend to have to know someone with a rhubarb plant to get it later in the year.
4. Posted by Angela![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.aspoonfulofsugar.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
on
March 11, 2007
I love the idea of rhubarb in friands, I usually use plums as I like the tartness. Where did you get the oval tins, I have been looking for ages (UK)
5. Posted by Alex on March 22, 2007
Alex--I bought the friand tin from Lakeland.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/product.aspx/!11383
6. Posted by Angela![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.aspoonfulofsugar.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
on
March 22, 2007
I am yet to make my very first batch of friands as I don't have a tin! I'm sure they won't taste the same out of muffin pans! I had ONE "bendy" tray for 6 in my hand the other day, but a second tray could not be located, and how long would 6 last friands last!!?? I could buy a metaltray, but I would prefer the flexi type. So, in Adelaide (South Australia) the search continues for bendy friand forms! Wish me luck!
7. Posted by AJ on May 12, 2007
Friands are great - you can also spoon lemon curd into them and that works.
I like to make them plain with raspberries on the top - the sweet and tart contrast works brilliantly.
8. Posted by The Caked Crusader on September 4, 2007