These gluten free friands are the perfect French cake!
Small and delicate, they are the ideal size to eat in just a few bites. This makes them great for popping into lunchboxes and makes portion control easy too.
They are made from store cupboard ingredients and flavoured with almonds and lemon zest, but there are also plenty of other ingredients that you can add.
With a crisp outer layer and rich, buttery middle, these little delicacies are easy to make too. You just need a bowl and a spoon and just a few minutes before they are ready for the oven.
Bon appétit!
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There are so many little French cakes to choose from!
Whilst we have cupcakes and muffins, the French have a huge array of small cakes, individually named and normally with a particular shape too.
Most people have heard of madeleines, with their distinctive shell shape, but how about financiers and friands?
Friands are tradtionally made in an oval shaped mould, which are easily available. However, if you don't want to buy one then you can also use a mini muffin tin or fairy cake tin instead.
This is a really easy recipe using melted butter, so there's minimal work to make these. It's just a matter of mixing the ingredients together and baking.
As they are gluten free friands, I've used cornflour, so there are no special ingredients to buy either, and more importantly, no compromise in taste.
It's also easy to adapt the recipe too; how about raspberries or white chocolate chips for a change?
Why you will love this dish
- Quick to make with no special equipment.
- Store cupboard ingredients.
- Gluten free.
- Great for packed lunches.
- Easy to customise.
💭 Top tips for separating egg whites
- I normally store my eggs at room temperature, but if you put your eggs in the fridge for an hour or so before you are ready to bake, then they will be easier to separate.
- Separate each egg, putting the yolks and whites in separate bowls then add the whites to your mixing bowl as you go. This makes it easier in case you come across a bad egg, without wasting the rest.
🥘 Ingredients
- Sugar - light brown sugar for the topping and caster or superfine suagr for the friands
- Flour - cornflour, or other gluten free flour. If you don't need to make gluten free friands then replace with plain flour.
- Egg - large egg whites.
- Almonds - ground almonds or almond meal.
- Butter - unsalted butter.
- Vanilla - vanilla extract.
- Lemon - zest of a lemon.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍽 Equipment
- friand or oval cake tin / silicone mould - alternatively use a mini muffin tin or fairy cake tin
- mixing bowl
- wooden spoon
- whisk
- fine grater for zesting
- jug - optional, but makes it easier to fill the cake moulds.small saucepan or microwaveable bowl
- pastry brush
🔪 Instructions
Put the ground almonds, cornflour and caster sugar into a large bowl and mix.
Melt the butter over a medium heat in a saucepan.
Alternatively, place the butter in a microwaveable bowl and heat in 10 second bursts until the better is melted.
Stir the vanilla into the butter.
Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk for a minute to break them up.
Add the butter to the dry ingredients.
Mix well.
Add the egg whites.
Fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon to get a smooth batter.
Grease the moulds with the remaining butter.
Divide the mixture between the moulds.
💭 Top Tip
- The cake batter is quite fluid, so I find the easiest way to fill the moulds is to transfer the mixture to a jug and pour the mixture.
Grate the zest from the lemon and scatter over the top with the brown sugar.
💭 Top Tip
- When zesting the lemon be careful to only take the yellow part and not the bitter white pith underneath.
⏲️ Baking Time
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and bake for 25 minutes until they spring back to the touch.
Cool the cakes in the moulds for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Leave the cakes to cool completely before storing.
These cakes develop a crunchy topping with a rich moist filling.
🥗 Serve with
If you are having friends round for morning coffee or afternoon tea, try some of these baking recipes.
- Afternoon Tea Sandwiches
- Flapjacks
- Melting Moments
- Ginger Cake
- Cheese and Bacon Scones
- Cream Tea Scones
- Madeira Cake
- Salted Caramel Mille Feuille
- Nutella Macarons
- Sable Biscuits
- Cardamon and Lime Madeleines
- Cake Salé
Substitutions
- Cornflour - use gluten free flour of your choice or try coconut flour.
- Ground almonds - use ground hazelnuts.
📖 Variations
Try adding these ingredients to the friands.
- Fresh raspberries - add 1 or 2 to each mould sfter 10 minutes of cooking.
- White chocolate or dark chocolate chips
- Chopped dried apricots or candied ginger or peel.
- Decorate with dessicated coconut or orange or lime zest.
Storage
- Airtight container - cool completely and store in an airtight container. Best eaten within 7 days.
- Freezer - place in airtight bags or containers and freeze for up to 6 months.
Prepare in Advance
- Prepare the batter and leave in a covered jug for a few hours before baking.
FAQs
Friands are typically made in a round or oval shape and can be made with nuts and decorated with fruits. They are also made with just melted butter.
Financiers are traditionally made with ground almonds and browned butter in the classic gold bar shape.
Almond flour is blanched almonds that have been very finely milled to a powder.
Almond meal or ground almonds, tends to be unblanched almonds that are not finely ground. They are also great for thickening sauces such as curries.
In France you can also buy superfine ground almonds to use for making macarons
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
More French desserts to try
📋 Recipe
Gluten Free Friands
Equipment
- friand or oval cake tin / silicone mould - alternatively use a mini muffin tin or fairy cake tin
- Mixing bowl
- wooden spoon
- whisk
- fine grater for zesting
- jug - optional, but makes it easier to fill the cake moulds.small saucepan or microwaveable bowl
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 75 g cornflour cornstarch
- 3 egg whites
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g ground almonds
- 150 g butter
- teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon butter for greasing
Decoration
- 1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
- 1 zest of a lemon
Instructions
- Put the ground almonds, cornflour and caster sugar into a large bowl and mix.
- Melt the butter over a medium heat in a saucepan and add the vanilla extract.
- Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk for a minute to break them up.
- Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Fold in the egg whites with a metal spoon.
- Grease the moulds with the remaining butter and divide the mixture between the moulds.
- Grate the zest from the lemon and scatter over the top with the brown sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and bake for 25 minutes until they spring back to the touch.
- Cool the cakes in the moulds for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
More teatime recipes
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.
However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.
beth
Such delicate and dainty cakes. My kids enjoyed making them!
Amanda
Hi Sandra, Thanks for pointing that out as I missed this. It's a teaspoon and I'll get it changed. Thanks, Amanda
Sandra Jeffery
How much vanilla extract is needed for the recipe please? I don't see it listed in the print version. Many thanks.
Dannii
These look lovely. I am going to make them for our tea party this weekend.
kushigalu
These are delicious-looking bites. Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe.
Mahy
I have NEVER tried friands before. But I bet they are amazing! Great recipe to learn something new.
Natalie
On Amanda what delicious little bites! My daughter wanted some in her lunch box for school. Thanks!
Ieva
Scrumptious little treats! Reminds me of financiers but less time consuming without having to brown the butter! Delicious and easy to make! Thanks for the recipe 🙂