These are little sweet bites for dessert or a teatime treat. Friands are light almond cakes, popular in New Zealand and Australia. We’ve added in some delicious flavours to make prickly pear and almond friands unique.
Recipe was adapted from Totally Simple Food by Jill Dupleix
Prickly pear and almond friands
Ingredients
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 60g (½ cup) cake flour, sifted
- 120g ground almonds
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 10ml (2 tsp) lemon rind, grated
- 180g unsalted butter, melted
- 3 prickly pears, sliced into rounds
- 45ml (3 tbsp) flaked almonds, toasted, optional
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Lightly grease a muffin baking tray or 8 x 80ml individual moulds.
Mix icing sugar, flour and almonds. Gently whisk the egg whites with a fork for a minute. Stir into almond mixture, and add lemon rind and butter.
Fill muffin cups until three-quarters full. Gently push a slice or two of prickly pear into each cup. Bake until golden and firm, about 20 minutes.
Leave in the tins for 5 minutes, then unmould and allow to cool.
Add some toasted almonds for a bit of crunch.
