Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Whenever I type “friands” into a message, the autocorrect changes it to “friends”.

I have decided to accept the wisdom of the universe – friands are indeed our friends. So I’ve baked them a couple of times during lockdown and they’ve been a huge hit with Pete and Small Man.

Thanks to darling Jane, we’re well stocked in eggs, plus Monkey Girl brought me six egg whites the other day after her first attempt at Portuguese tarts. I stashed them in the freezer, and they defrosted perfectly for our most recent batch of friends. I mean friands.

Here’s a gently edited cut and paste of our original recipe, including the microwave custard. Have you ever made microwave custard? If not, you might find it life changing. Our friend Will, the best MC ever, will jog the kilometre from his house to ours in pouring rain just to pick up a tub of it off our back deck. He is English, though. I’m occasionally tempted to leave a spoon out for his return trip home. ♥

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BLUEBERRY AND DARK CHOCOLATE FRIANDS

• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large egg whites
• 45g plain flour
• 140g icing sugar mixture (or plain icing sugar)
• 85g almond meal
• 80g defrosted frozen or fresh blueberries
• 50g dark chocolate callets (I used Callebaut 70%)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C or 175C with fan. Sit six sturdy cupcake liners on a tray and spray the insides of them lightly with oil.  Alternatively, use a well greased friand pan or a lined muffin pan – if you’re using the latter, I’d still spray the paper liners with oil as this batter sticks savagely.

2. Melt the butter if you haven’t already done so (I always forget that step and then have to wait for it to cool). Put the blueberries on a flat plate to defrost a bit if necessary. It’s ok to use them still a bit frozen, but if they’re too hard, they’ll tend to sink to the bottom of the friand.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and icing sugar, then stir in the almond meal. Sifting the icing sugar is important or you’ll end up with hard lumps in your batter.

3. In a separate mixing bowl and using a hand whisk, beat the egg whites for about a minute until they’re frothy, but not stiff. They should look like this…

4. Quickly but gently fold in the dry ingredients, then add the cooled melted butter.  Stir until just combined.

5. Very gently stir the blueberries and chocolate into the batter.

6. Spoon the mixture evenly into the six paper liners and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, rotating the tray once during the baking time.  The finished friands will be well risen and  golden brown in colour.

7. Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving with a hot cup of tea!

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MICROWAVE CUSTARD

And…waste not, want not…turn the four leftover egg yolks into custard in just a few minutes in the microwave!

• 2 cups (500ml) full-cream milk (I used UHT)
• 1 tsp homemade vanilla extract*
• 4 egg yolks (from 59g eggs)
• 1 Tbsp (4 tsps) cornflour (cornstarch)
• ¹/₃ cup (70g) caster (superfine) sugar*

1. In a large pyrex mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla extract, cornflour and caster sugar until smooth.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes until hot (my microwave is 1000 watts).

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth.  Pour the egg yolks through a sieve into the bowl of heated milk, whisking constantly as it ribbons into the hot mixture to ensure it doesn’t curdle. A second set of hands is always useful here.

3. Heat the eggy milk in the microwave on high for 1 minute, then whisk.  Heat for another minute, then whisk again.  Continue heating in 30 seconds bursts, whisking well after each, until the custard has thickened to your liking. Use immediately, or refrigerate until needed.