Afternoon Tea - Friands

Every Friday this month, I will be sharing a recipe for a treat you might see at an afternoon tea. I LOVE afternoon tea, hooray for Anna, the seventh duchess of Bedford. Like any decent human being, Anna would get hungry around 4pm and need dainty sandwiches and tea.

One of my best afternoon tea places is Fortnum and Mason’s in London; it is such a treat. The store alone is worth a visit if you are in the city, but if you have the time and can splash out a bit, then book in for afternoon tea.

Over the month, I will share four recipes that could come together to make a special afternoon tea. It is Mother's Day at the end of the month and I think this is a lovely way to treat someone special, by going all out and creating a mini feast.

I chose to fill the ‘cake’ slot of an afternoon tea with a lesser known tasty treat - a friand. They are very popular in Australia and New Zealand and are a lot like a French financier.

The main ingredients are ground almonds, egg whites and icing sugar and they’re traditionally baked in oval mini cake pans and topped with fresh stone fruits or berries.

One of the reasons I picked these was because they are very quick to make and when you have several elements of an afternoon tea to bring together, having some easy and quick recipes comes in handy. They also look very dainty and elegant - perfect.

Raspberry and Blueberry Friands

110g icing sugar, sifted

68g ground almonds

43g plain flour, sifted

4 large, free ranged egg whites

75g unsalted butter, melted

200g fresh raspberries

100g fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour a 6 hole friand tin, or you could try a muffin tin.
In a large bowl mix together the ground almonds, icing sugar and flour until combined. Add the egg whites until combined and then gently stir in the melted butter.
Divide the mixture between the friand tin holes and then top with a mixture of the raspberries and blueberries.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
Leave in the tin to cool slightly for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust with sifted icing sugar and serve.
You can play around with the fruit toppings; raspberry and peach is wonderful in the summer.