ALMOND & COCONUT FRIANDS with FRESH SUMMER BERRIES

Almond Friands with Fresh Summer Berries

Now that all of you have been introduced to Chocolate & Coconut Friands, I'd like to introduce you to their sweet sidekick - Almond & Coconut Friands with Fresh Summer Berries....it's a match made in heaven!

​Delightful little French cakes, made with browned butter, ground almonds and egg whites - these bake up with the lightest golden sugar-crust you will ever taste!  And just as simple and easy to make!  I like to have a little variety, especially for a special little party, and this is a nice way to shake things up for our little French soiree.

French Almond Friands with Summer Berries

You will have these baking in the oven in less than 30 minutes...and after a quick twenty minute bake, these will be cooling on your counter.  If your house is anything like mine, there are little feet and little fingers just waiting to grab one of these and run off...

​But who can blame them?  Loaded with fresh summer berries, it's hard to decide which is our favorite!  Fresh strawberries, sweet raspberries, tender blueberries or even juicy blackberries - it's all good!

Almond & Coconut Friands with Summer Berries

Almond Friands with Fresh Summer Berries

I made more batches of these over the past week than I can count, so we had an opportunity to try them in lots of different ways.  They are perfectly wonderful warm from the oven, but you can kick them up a notch by serving with sweetened whipped cream and garnish with more fresh berries, which are the perfect touch for these golden tender cakes.

Almond Friands with Sweetened Whipped Cream & Rhubarb Raspberry Sauce

I also served these with some homemade Rhubarb Raspberry Sauce drizzled over the top...and that was a big hit with the crowd as well. 

​Don't you love it when you can make something so tasty, delicious and beautiful ahead of time and serve it a gazillion different ways?  No last minute fussing, just fun deciding how to serve these as creatively as you can! 

​And they're not just for summer - perfect for winter-time entertaining as well.  But what could be better for a Bastille Day celebration or anything else you want something a little extra special for?  Bon appetit with these friands, my friends!
​Mama V

Almond & Coconut Friands with Raspberry & Rhubarb Sauce

Almond Friands with Fresh Summer Berries & Whipped Cream

These little cakes remind me of a more sophisticated, stripped-back cupcake.  Full of flavor with a dense but chewy crumb, it's like frangipane meets fairy cake. Beautifully simple to make, the biggest pitfall is not greasing your tins properly - if you have non-stick tins available, I highly recommend!

Almond Friends with Fresh Berries

ALMOND & COCONUT FRIANDS WITH FRESH BERRIES

A financier is a small French cake, made with ground almonds, brown butter, egg whites and powdered sugar.  Similar to financiers, fiands are popular in Australia and New Zealand and typically have additional flavorings such as chocolate, coconut, fruit or nuts.  These little treats are flavored with almond and coconut and served with fresh summer berries – so easy to make, so pretty and so good! 
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Almond & Coconut Friands with Fresh Berries

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup honey OR powdered sugar, sifted
1-1/4 cups almond flour (ground almonds), sifted
1/3 cup desiccated coconut (grated & dehydrated coconut – not regular shredded coconut)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon almond extract
Pinch of salt
5 large egg whites, room temperature
Fresh strawberries, raspberries or blackberries (1/2 cup for cakes, additional for garnish)
Powdered sugar (for garnish)
 
HOW I MAKE THESE:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease mini-bundtlette cake pan generously and sprinkle with granulated sugar generously – the sugar will caramelize on the outside of the cakes while it bakes; set aside. 
2. These can be made with “normal” melted butter, but if you follow tradition and brown the butter, you’ll give the cakes an extra layer of flavor. 
3. TO BROWN BUTTER:  Cut the butter into pieces, toss it into a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle boil over medium heat.  Once the butter boils, keep a close eye on it – you want it to turn a golden brown.  If you get a deeper color you’ll get more flavor, but you have to be careful not to let the butter go black – something that can happen quickly.  When you have the color you want – and the fragrance of hazelnuts, pull the pan from the heat and stir in the honey or powdered sugar and almond extract; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder and desiccated coconut. 
5. In a separate glass or metal bowl, whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt and almond extract until soft and foamy peaks form – do not overwhisk – you don’t want stiff peaks. 
6. Add cooled melted butter mixture and whipped egg whites to ground almonds.  Use a large wooden spoon to gently fold all the ingredients together, just until you have a smooth batter – it will be a very light and foamy batter. 
7. Spoon mixture evenly into prepared pan (2/3rds if you are adding any fresh fruit to the cakes or up to maximum of 3/4 full if not adding fruit) as they will rise during baking.  If adding fruit, push a couple of fresh raspberries or fresh strawberry chunks into the middle of each individual cake batter with your fingertip.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes (bake for less time if you are using a 12-count mini-bundt pan or muffin pan), or until the cakes are light golden on top and springy to the touch, or a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes; invert pans and release the cakes from pans.  After 20 minutes, cover loosely to keep the cakes super moist while they continue cooling to room temperature.
10. Just before serving, dust with additional powdered sugar or sweetened whipped cream topped with fresh summer berries.
11. Store in a covered container at room temperature. 

 
YIELD:   6 mini-bundtlette cakes or 12 muffin-size servings

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