Hey guys! Do I have a great recipe installed for you or what! These beauties are gluten free and taste sensational! I mean who doesn't love blueberries and cream cheese frosting!
Friends are a lighter version of a muffin and are usually altered to make gluten free to give celiacs an option. They use egg whites as a raising agent so it is important when mixing your egg whites into the batter (always do at the end)to be very delicate so you don't deflate the egg whites and you loose a lot of height in your friands.
These friands are blueberry coconut iced with cream cheese frosting. Oh so delicious.
I am in the middle of a big project, well it is actually a re accruing project but I can't wait to share it with you guys! Just to give you a hint I am getting back to the kitchen just in a different style now to suit my stage of life and my current situation. I hope you stick around and check out what i end up producing.
Such delicate little muffins, so tasty and just melt in your mouth. Stay tuned if you would like the recipe.
Recipe:
GF Blueberry Coconut Friands
Ingredients:
100g butter
1/3 honey
1 1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 lemon, zested
1 lime, zested
5 eggs whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup frozen/fresh blueberries
1/4 cup icing sugar (dust)
1-2 Tablespoons of caster sugar
Icing
150g icing sugar
240g cream cheese
60g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease a friand tin. A friand tin looks like a muffin tin, except its oval and much deeper. I think its very important to use a friand tin and not substitute. The tin helps with the rising because its gluten free.
Another hint, grease the friand tin, and spoon some sugar into the tins and roll it around until all the sugar is coating the sides and sticking to the butter in the friand tin. This helps the friand butter climb up the sides of the tin, for a better, lighter friand.
Melt butter and honey together until combined and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine almond meal,coconut, orange zest and lemon zest.
In a seperate bowl, beat your egg whites with a pinch of salt, until soft foamy floppy peaks have formed. (Do not whisk to stuff peaks your not making a meringue)
Add cooled butter mixture to almond mixture and mix until combined, gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Being careful not to deflate the whites because this is your raising agent.
Do not over mix the batter, once it is looking all uniform stop!
Spoon the batter into the friand tins, about 2/3 the way up. The friands will rise. Top each friand with 3-4 berries, and push slightly into the batter. Bake for 18-22 minutes until they are light and golden. Or when a skewer is inserted, no batter clings to the skewer.
Leave to cool in the tin for a couple minutes before going round the friand tin with a butter knife, they should pop out easily.
Dust with icing sugar.
For the icing, cream the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.
Sift icing sugar into a seperate bowl. Gradually spoon in the icing sugar and creaming it with the cream cheese. The reason I tell you to do this is because, some people like their cream cheese icing sweeter or tarter then others. This way you can control the sweetness. Mix in vanilla, let it chill for 1 hour to set up before spooning it onto friands.
Garnish the friands with a dusting of icing sugar, a dollop of icing and a couple of blueberries. You can also garnish with coconut chips too.
Till next time babes x
