I was getting a little worried about this month’s Sweet Adventures Blog Hop. I’ve got a lot on my plate for the rest of the month but still wanted to join in. Luckily, the public holiday fairy was watching over me, providing a little more breathing space by throwing in an Ekka holiday mid-week.
The theme this month is ‘Berry Nice to Meet You’ hosted by Christina from The Hungry Australian. I’ve just had my first taste of the new season strawberries from further up the Queensland coast and they were delicious. I had resisted as long as possible but when I finally succumbed, I was expecting they may be hard and flavourless. Pretty on the outside, tasteless on the inside. But no!, they were sweet and juicy. It’s still so early in the season so I expect that it will be a bumper crop, based on the early indicators. Christina has encouraged us to make ‘all things berry’. To that I have added, ‘all things quick and easy’ so once again I trawled the cook books until I spied these little darlings, adapted from a Donna Hay recipe. Perfect for the time poor cook, these are so quick to make, you could throw them together on the spot if people drop by. I love the way the colour bleeds from the berries into the surrounding cake. Though it might be a bit cheaty, if you use frozen berries, you may even have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Go on – make some today!
These take their name from a classic moment in the ABC TV program ‘Paper Giants:The Birth of Cleo‘ when Kerry Packer tells his secretary to go out and get some ‘nice finger buns’. Instead, she brings back some Friands, much to Kerry’s chagrin. Who’d have thought you could even get Friands in 1970’s Sydney?!
Ingredients
- 125g butter
- 1 x cup almond meal
- 1 7 2/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
- 3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 5 eggs whites
- 1/3 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) or any berry of your choice
Method
- Melt butter in a small saucepan until it is light golden and set aside
- Place almond meal, icing sugar, flour and baking powder in a bowl and stir to combine
- Add the egg whites and stir to combine
- Add the slightly cooled butter and mix well to combine
- Grease 10 x 1/2 cup muffin tin and spoon approximately two tablespoons of mixture into each cup
- Place a few berries on each friand, pressing down slightly into the mix
- Bake at 180c for 15 – 20 minutes until golden and springy to touch but still moist in the centre
- Serve warm or cold. Dust with icing sugar if you wish
Well, I’m off to South America soon, so I won’t be able to join September or October’s blog hop but I’ll be back again in November. Happy hopping!
Oh I love blueberries – I always have them in my freezer. No not quite the same but still not bad in the off-season. Great recipe.
Enjoy South America!
Blueberries are one of my favourites too, as are friands. A beautiful post, Fiona. Wasn't Paper Giants brilliantly done!
I had a blueberry fiand last night 🙂 they're so delicious! Yours look great! Thanks for joining the hop 😀
These look lovely. On the strawberry front … it's been hit and miss for me on the early season berries that are out. Had gorgeous sweet strawberries last week and not-so-great ones this week. I think i'll hold off for another month or so.
Actually, I just had another batch of strawberries yesterday and they weren't as good so I think I'll hold off too.
I don't watch a lot of telly but I did make the effort to watch Paper Giants as I'm a bit of an Ita fan, it was great and that scene was priceless.
Lovely friands, I have yet to make these in my kitchen, another recipe to add to 'the list'. 🙂
Gorgeous friands 🙂 Loved the show too. Enjoy your trip!