In an effort to detach from the final effects of the recently passed winter, I have been aiming to create recipes that use seasonal ingredients with vibrant colours and bold flavours. It was this approach to cooking that led me to reflect upon an old childhood favourite recipe.
Though I have hundreds of food related memories, this recipe has closely remained with me. As a child, school was a dreaded chore and I always anticipated returning home… mainly due to the delicious afternoon tea that would await, prepared lovingly by my mother.
My mother would bake many different treats for my afternoon tea but her friands were always my favourite. After a long day at school, her home-made friands had the ability to improve any poor mood and make an ordinary day feel special. Her raspberry and vanilla bean friands were like a security blanket that welcomed me home. They were always enjoyed and quickly devoured alongside a glass of milk.
This recipe is a version of my much loved childhood favourite. These french oval cakes pair the classic flavours of raspberry, vanilla and almonds. They have a delicate, moist and fluffy frangipane interior that is punctured by the addition of tart raspberries and surrounded by a crisp crust.
The best things in life are often the most simplistic and friands definitely fall true to this statement. The recipe is so simple and fuss free… the focus is solely on the divine flavours. Friands definitely come under the category of simple home-baking, but believe me; these friands are neither plain or dull. The heavenly blend of almonds, raspberries and vanilla is delicious both in concept and reality. These friands satisfy my tenacious sweet tooth and are always quickly devoured.
Just like my mother, I bake for the people that I love. There are too many nostalgic emotions mixed into these little almond cakes… a mouthful generates the memories of my young, carefree days. The flavours wrap around my tastebuds and bring a sense of warmth, familiarity and love. These friands have not lost their magical comforting power. I encourage you to create the recipe and by doing so, make your own memories.
- 5 egg whites, room temperature
- 150g unsalted butter, melted
- 1tb vanilla bean paste
- 90g almond meal
- 50g plain flour
- 185g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
- 2x punnets or fresh raspberries or 200g of frozen raspberries
- Preheat an oven to 180C (350F).
- Grease a 6 or 8 holed oval friand pan well with butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk the egg whites to just combine.
- Add the melted butter, almond meal, flour and sifted icing sugar and combine well.
- Mix in three quarters of the raspberries into the batter and pour into prepared pans to two thirds full.
- Place two or three raspberries on top of each friand and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out the center clean.
- Let the friands cool slightly and then remove from the pan carefully and dust lightly with icing sugar.
- Serve warmed and with extra fresh raspberries, if you like.
87 Comments
i returned to say these are wonderful, thalia!!! i made raspberry, i made cherry, and i made strawberry. my neighbors think you are a magical baking fairy… i told them they were right. best sent ~
i am thinking mixed berry or blackberry or raspberry or strawberry or any-berry will be finding their way into your recipe this year. the stuffed brioche i just pinned is also making me think i need to champagne grape one of these friands too. considering i have eaten like a truckload of these in my life, it is surely about time i try to make my own, yes? i also really enjoyed your lovely memory share, thalia.
Oooh. Friands! So Oz! Being a francophile myself, can I call them financiers? Hehe. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
These look incredible! I wish fresh raspberries were more abundant where I live. I can never get my hands on any, and if I ever did see some they are CRAZY expensive. I’m glad you can use frozen for this recipe since it’s my only hope! Making these soon. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Pure vanilla + raspberries make great friends…so I could see them making great friands, too. 🙂
Everything you post looks so absolutely LOVELY! Not excluding these little beauties! Why do I do this to myself when I am hungry?!
I am loving all of the pictures on your website, very elegant and beautiful! This recipe sounds awesome too!
Thalia these look absolutely delish!! I usually pair lemon zest + lemon juice with my raspberries for my baked goods but vanilla + raspberries sounds like a match made in heaven!
These look heavenly! I can practically smell them in the oven. I better get baking!
Awww lovely writing, Thalia! Although my mom was always working and therefore couldn’t welcome me with homemade treats, I recall going to my friends’ homes everyday after school, and there I made some of the sweetest memories ever. 😀 We would sip on chocolate milk or yerba mate (I’m from Argentina originally) alongside a batch of homemade alfajores or biscuits smeared in dulce de leche! And these look so delicately delish….super straight forward recipe as well. <33
Aren’t childhood memories the best! I wish I had alfajores with dulce de leche after school! Thanks for stopping by Ellie.
I love friands and these look the best I’ve seen. I started making them myself a few years ago, but had to use a muffin tin because I couldn’t find friend tins anywhere in the UK. I finally got one last year, and you’ve inspired me to get it out the cupboard and make some!!
I don’t think I’ve ever had a fiand in my life. Now I want one, badly!
You have such a gorgeous looking site Thalia! And these friands look delicious, and your photographs of them are beautiful 🙂
This is such a sweet post. Your mom sounds amazing. These fiands are gorgeous. I’ve never had a friand before but they look so soft and tasty. Your photos are always stunning too 🙂
I love friends and what a treat to come home to after a day at school!
This is such a sweet post! Your mum sounds amazing(: And these friends look incredible. I can’t wait to make things like this for my future children when they come home after a long day at school.
Wow, these look awesome. Beautiful pictures, and the recipe looks so simple – I can’t think of one good reason not to make them 🙂
I’ve never tried making friands before and am intrigued by the unique shape of these cakes. I need to try to look for a friand pan, but will try these in a muffin pan in the meantime. Thanks for sharing another lovely recipe, Thalia!
I make friands/financiers quite often, not only because they’re delicious but also to use up the egg whites left from ice cream making.
Your friands look amazing, Thalia! I love anything raspberries.
These look amazing, Thalia! You’re right: baking for people we love is the best! Especially when almond is involved. Such a lovely recipe!
The duo together are indeed the best of friends!! I am in love with your pictures. They are literally popping out of the screen !
Thank you for dropping by my space. Pav Bhaji is an excellent street food and a comfort meal if you like curry. You should definitely try it sometime and you will love it all the more!
Reduce the chilli, if you like it a lot milder.
I’ve never made these before, but love the simplicity of this recipe! They’re so pretty! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I have never had friands before…but these look incredible! I will definitely give them a try someday, thanks for the recipe!
I love raspberries and these are so beautiful with that powdered sugar on top! Love them.
I’ve never had friands before, but these look amazing! This flavor combo sounds great too. Loved hearing about your childhood!
Definitely delicious and worth to try raspberry friands recipe!!
pretty damn beautifully captured too….
I think raspberries and almonds are heavenly together! This are so elegant and would be perfect for an afternoon tea!
You totally had me at tart raspberries and surrounded by a crisp crust. These sound amazing – and they are so pretty. I can see them at a tea party! Pinned!
Man I am telling you. Your pictures are incredible. These look amazing!
I’ve never had a friand but these look so tasty, soft and delicious! I love the fruit addition, it makes them look so pretty!
Thalia, your recipe is a good reminder that it is time to make friands! It’s been far too long since I’ve had them and they are such a delight. Your photographs are an excellent motivator! Thank you for this fabulous recipe!
Thanks Traci! x
Oh wow, these are beautiful. And your description of them… it warms my heart and makes me want to bite into one fresh from the oven.
Those are so beautiful. Now, I am on the hunt for an oval muffin pan.
I’m very intrigued by this recipe. The fluffy marzipan core sounds like a poem to me. You say that it is easy (yay!) and I can’t wait to bake my very first friands.
Wow those friands look and sound amazing! I love the raspberry and vanilla bean combo 🙂
Friands sound glorious! i’ve never had one but now i’m dying to try one out 🙂
I have never had friands but I always find them to be the more elegant cousin of muffins 😉
Wow, these look so pretty and elegant…great pictures as always…
Hope you are having a fabulous week Thalia 😀
Thanks Juliana, you too!
Such gorgeous little cakes. I love raspberries (and so does my 15 month old daughter). I can’t wait for us to make these together!
haven’t made friands in forever but there’s no way mine even come close to yours! Yours are just perfect.
These look and sound incredible! I particularly love recipes that come from wonderful memories.
yes! definitely delicious!
WOW, these look nice and yummy. I’d probably tweak the recipe a little to make it dairy and gluten free. Thanks for sharing.
These are so pretty! I want to sit down and have tea with them. Amazing photos and recipes once again!
These are beautiful, and I appreciate that you shared how special the recipe is to you.
I love the story behind these! I’ve never had friands and really only heard of them once before from a fellow food blogger. I can say that raspberry and vanilla bean sounds like a wonderful combination for them. These would work in a muffin pan, wouldn’t they? I’m willing to try for this recipe! YUM!
These are exquisite! Love the story behind these – what a wonderful recipe to pass down! Now I need to get my hands on some vanilla bean paste.
I have never had friands before but I definitely would have loved to have come home from school to them! Love the raspberry almond combination!
These are lovely and absolutely perfect in their simplicity. I’ve been thinking about friands lately too so I think it’s fate! 🙂
These friands look absolutely delicious! I love the story behind them 🙂
Recipes that take you back to your childhood are always the best. I love the combination of raspberry and vanilla in these too!
I think simple desserts are my favorite. I love these little cakes, what a sweet treat to come home to after school. : )
Raspberries are my favourite things to add in friands. Love these! Elegance in simplicity.
You warm my heart with these friands. My grandmother used to make these for us when we were kids. I just love them – great memories.
Those are stunning– and such a short ingredient list, too!
My mom also used to always have snack ready for me when I got home from school. She didn’t bake though! It was apples, oranges, cheese, popcorn! She was very simple in her cooking 🙂
So lovely and love the flavours!
These sound so delicious! I will have to make an effort not to just eat all the raspberries before I can use them to bake these. 🙂
I love your story of coming home to a fresh baked treat growing up, and I can only imagine that these would improve a bad day or mood! They look delicious, Thalia! Pinning. 🙂
I have never heard of friands! Boy am I missing out! These are absolutely gorgeous, too. I’ve got some almond meal that I need to use and I’m going to have to make these!
Mmmm…I can smell and taste the homey aroma and flavour of the raspberry and vanilla bean in these friands. Love ’em!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
I love hearing about people’s favorite childhood treats!I’ve never had friands but I can totally picture eating these after school with some tea and feeling all my troubles melt away. Thanks for sharing!
Love the flavor combination of these little cuties, Thalia! Raspberry and vanilla pair so well together! These friands sound delicious!
So, so beautiful. Raspberry and vanilla are two of my favorite flavors, and this recipe just looks gorgeous and delicious. Pinned!
I love the shape of these! They look gorgeous, I’m sure they taste delicious too. Vanilla bean <– *swoon*
Love the story! These look so delish and elegant
Stunning! You’re recipes are always so elegant and classy. I can’t wait to try these friands. 🙂
Always so light and delicate, and never out of style, these are one of my favorite treats. Yours look absolutely lovely. Congratulations on a job very well done. These are tempting indeed, a real pleasure to gaze upon!
Thiese look just so, so good! Such beautiful photos!!
I must admit that I don’t think I’ve ever had a friand before…but these look (and sound) amazing! I clearly need to correct this problem ASAP. 🙂
Thalia, your friands are stunningly gorgeous! That crispy exterior and those beautiful berries are calling my name 🙂
Woah! These photos are amaaaaazing! It took me a moment to get around to reading the recipe, I was drooling over your photos! What a fabulously simple recipe! I have some frozen blueberries that will be perfect for making this!
Wow!! These Frainds look gorgeous and oh so delicious. . Love the vanilla bean and raspberries combo.. Can’t wait to try this.. 🙂
I have always loved the delicacy of the friand- the shape is so elegant. I have made these with banana and roasted pineapple. the pineapple marinated in Pirate rum, demerara sugar and butter beforehand.
Mmmmm VANILLA BEANS AND RASPBERRY!! DELISH
I absolutely love friands! But I am yet to find a tried and true friand recipe – I can’t wait to try these! They look perfect.
Your photos are always so gorgeous! Raspberry and Vanilla is my husband favorite flavor combo! Um, I’m serious. These would make the perfect breakfast treat as well.
Thanks Alex, I love having them for breakfast as well – the thought of a warm friand awaiting for breakfast coaxes me out of bed just that little bit more.
You’re a law student! How exciting! I graduated from law school 7 years ago. You deserve the entire basket of these wonderful-looking friands after the stress of the school year! 🙂 I have absolutely no baking skills, but like you, I have a mother that bakes wonderful, comforting treats. Thanks for sharing your memories 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Tekesha, always love hearing from fellow legal practitioners x
Friands sound amazing! I love the flavors in these and the texture combination sounds out of this world! I’ve never had one (yet!), but definitely know what those strong food memories feel like. Nothing welcomes you home quite like homemade treats 🙂
These are lovely, Thalia! I absolutely love this flavor combination. I’ve never had a friand before. Do you think you can bake them in a standard round muffin tin? Or do you have another suggestion?
You definitely can make these in a muffin tin, just make sure you grease it well because they can be tricky to to get out. Do try the recipe Liz, you will be converted!
These are absolutely beautiful, Thalia! I can’t wait to try them with warm raspberries. Breakfast on Sunday, maybe?
Definitely a good idea Elizabeth!