D&C Monthly Recipes - Christmas Friands🎄

Christmas Fruit & Spice Friands

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup currants
• 1 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 6 egg whites
• 3 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 200 gram butter, melted
• 200 gram crème fraîche
• 300 gram fresh cherries

Spice Syrup:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1/2 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 230°C. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Sift icing sugar, flour and spices into a large bowl. Stir in currants and ground almonds; make a well in the centre. Add egg whites, zest and butter; stir with a metal spoon until combined. Spoon mixture into paper cases.
3. Bake friands for 5 minutes. Reduce oven to 200°C; bake for a further 12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave friands in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
4. Meanwhile, make Spice syrup
5. Top friands with crème fraîche and cherries; drizzle with syrup.

To make the Spice Syrup, split vanilla bean lengthways; scrape out seeds. Place vanilla bean and seeds in a medium saucepan with sugar and mixed spice; stir to combine. Add the water; cook, stirring, over low heat for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Boil, uncovered, without stirring, for 5 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat.

Enjoy!