INGREDIENTS
- 190g unsalted butter, chopped. Plus, extra 10g for greasing, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 60g raw, unsalted pistachios. Plus, extra 10g finely chopped for sprinkling on top
- 60g almond meal
- 220g icing sugar
- 60g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 5 egg whites, approx. 160g total weight
- 100g Bonne Maman Blackcurrant Conserve
- Chopped pistachios and icing sugar for serving
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, fan-forced (180 degrees Celsius, conventional) and grease 2 x 6-hole friand pans with melted butter, dust with flour tapping out any excess over the sink.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir through vanilla. Set aside.
- Place the pistachios into a small food processor and blitz until a fine crumb forms, like the texture of the almond meal.
- Sift icing sugar into a large bowl, followed by the flour. Add the pistachio and almond meals and whisk to combine. Set bowl aside.
- Pour egg whites into a medium bowl and lightly whisk to break them up a little.
- Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients, followed by the egg whites and stir well to combine.
- Spoon the batter into the friand pans, coming about ¼ of the way up each hole. Place ½ tsp of conserve on top, and using a skewer or toothpick, swirl conserve into batter. Spoon remaining batter on top, smoothing out to cover conserve.
- Scatter chopped pistachios over the top of each one and place into the oven on the middle shelf. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating trays if need be. Once the friands are ready, they should be golden, and spring back when lightly pressed, or when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before running a smooth-edged butter knife or palette knife around the edges of each friand, levering each one out gently and placing them onto a cooling rack.
- When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar, dot each one with another ½ tsp of conserve, and sprinkle over chopped pistachios, if desired.
These friands are enjoyed best on the day of baking, however, they do keep for at least 3 days in an airtight container. They also freeze well.