Less is More - Rosemary and White Peach Friands - Weekend Herb Blogging #185
herb is suffused with medicinal and mystical properties that are
best handled with the lightest touch in and out of the kitchen.
Rosemary and White Peach Friands* - Another adaptation from Patricia Wells' recipe for Hazelnut Financiers from her Bistro Cooking, page 230, and online here* Friands are nearly indistinguishable from French financiers, the small, ultra-rich, moist and dense ground nut and butter cakes with their burnished, chewy crusts. They are wildly popular in the U.K. and Australia, often enhanced with fruit, and baked in oval muffin-like tins. I have yet to find this shape anywhere in the U.S. (despite several good sources for professional bakeware), and have used our typical round ones instead.
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup ground almonds (also known as almond flour or meal; almond paste and marzipan are different products)
1/2 cup cake flour
2 level tablespoons of very finely minced fresh rosemary needles or 1 level tablespoons dried needles, slightly crushed with a mortar and pestle
6 large unbeaten egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, melted and cooled in a small saucepan
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped peaches or other stone or berry fruit. (I used bits of white peach from homemade freezer jam that I just thawed out from last summer.)
1/3 cup almonds, slivered or chopped
Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Sift powdered sugar, almonds and flour into a large bowl. Add rosemary and whisk to combine. Pour in egg whites, beating with the whisk or a large spoon until they are well mixed. The batter will be wetter than you'd expect, moderately thick and slightly elastic. Pour in melted butter and stir until smoothly blended without any butter separating from the batter. Stir in vanilla extract.
Fill the well-greased depressions of a regular-sized muffin plaque (financier, barquette, madeleine or mini muffin sizes also work) almost to the rim with batter. Place on center oven rack to bake for 7 minutes. Carefully remove hot tin from oven and set on a heat-proof surface. Divide and arrange fruit and almonds on top of each friand, slightly pressing the toppings into the partially unset centers. Return plaque to oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and continue baking another 7 minutes. Turn off heat to let them set in cooling oven for a final 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and lift cakes out as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Place them on a rack to complete cooling. Makes 12, or more if using the smaller aforementioned tins. Store in a tightly sealed tin or plastic container. --
This recipe is for Weekend Herb Blogging #185, hosted by yours truly on behalf of Haalo of Cook Almost Anything at Least Once, mistress of ceremonies for the long-running weekly food event that was created over three years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.
The round-up will be online tomorrow, June 1, New York time. Do stop back for a taste of everything. I welcome late arrivals should some posts come to me after the deadline. Thanks always for your wonderful recipes!
Been There, Done That ~
Hazelnut Financiers
Yellow Raspberry & Rosemary Crisp
White Peach Crumb Top Pie
Other People's Eats ~
Banana Cinnamon Friands
Rosemary & Olive Oil Crackers
Easy Rosemary Focaccia