Pear and Brown Butter Friands

Friands are like the more elegant version of a cake- super tender and dense (in a good way), and the perfect carriers for flavours, like brown butter and vanilla.

Despite needing quite a few egg whites, they're actually really easy to make (much easier than creaming butter and sugar for a cake, in my opinion), so if you've got a whole lot of egg whites left over after making custard or pasta, be sure to give these a go.

Recipe- makes 12 friands

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter

150g almond meal

275g icing sugar

150g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 or 3 soft pears, sliced thinly

2 tbs white sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C, or 350°F. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.

Place the butter into a small pot and melt. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until you see the butter turning a light golden brown and it smells nutty and delicious.

Allow to cool while you place the almond meal, icing sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and whisk till incorporated. Once the butter has cooled down a little, add to the flour with the egg whites and vanila, and whisk until well combined.

Divide the mixture between the tins, and fan the pear slices over the top of each friand. Sprinkle the white sugar over the pears, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave for a couple of minutes, then run a knife around the friands and gently pull them out of the tin. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

DIFFICULTY	INGREDIENTS	PREP TIME	COOK TIME
Easy	8	15 minutes	25-30