Apricot, thyme + black pepper friands
Friands give me so much nostalgia. It was a favourite of my Dad’s to choose when visiting local cafes growing up, and as a result I’ve always had a soft spot for these light and moist tea-time treats. I like to brown the butter when making friands, as it gives a greater depth of flavour to the end result. This combination of ripe apricot slices, warming black pepper and earthy thyme sing of sunny afternoons in Central Otago - all you need is a cup of tea in hand and you’ll be set.
Top Tip - it’s worth investing in a silicone muffin tin, as it reduces the risk of friands or regular muffins sticking to the tin.
hands-on time
15 minutes
makes
12 friands
40 minutes
total time
Ingredients
170g butter, chopped into small cubes
120g ground almonds
75g plain flour
225g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
4 egg whites
3 ripe apricots, halved and stones removed
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional). Grease the base and sides of a 12-hole silicone or regular muffin tin generously with melted butter. If using a regular muffin tin, also dust the base and sides of each hole with flour to prevent the friands from sticking.
First prepare the brown butter. Place the chopped butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, then continue to heat, stirring regularly and swirling the pan, until it starts to foam, and the butter turns a deep golden brown, approx. 3-5 minutes (be careful here as it can rapidly go from brown to black). Strain the butter through a sieve into a bowl (to remove any browned solids). Set aside.
To make the friands, in a large bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, flour, icing sugar, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, sea salt and 1 tbsp of chopped thyme. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a fork until frothed up a little. Add the frothed egg whites and melted brown butter to the dry ingredients. Gently fold together until just incorporated (ensure no specks of flour are visible but do not overmix). Spoon the friand batter into the muffin tins so that they are two-thirds full and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon. Cut each apricot half into four wedges, place two on top of each friand and sprinkle each friand with some of the remaining chopped thyme. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature before carefully removing from the tins. Using a sieve, dust lightly with icing sugar before serving. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.