Rhubarb friands

Friands are made with ground almonds for a gorgeously grainy texture. These French treats are the perfect base for any seasonal fruit, but here, we've picked rhubarb.

Serve warm from the oven with cream or yogurt, or bake ahead and serve them at room temperature for a fabulouly French treat.

Ingredients

Makes 6

4.2 oz rhubarb, cut into 1½-inch pieces

2 tbsp icing sugar

3.5 oz butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

5 oz superfine sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

3.5 oz ground almonds

3 medium egg whites

Zest of ½ orange

1.8 ounces pistachios, roughly chopped

2 tsp vanilla essence

The Homes & Gardens method

1. Preheat the oven to 390°F, gas mark 6. Lay the rhubarb on a lined or non-stick baking tray (this highly rated set of two trays from Amazon will give you plenty of room). Sift over the icing sugar and cook for 12–15 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft and tender. Remove and cool.
2. Brush a six-hole friand (or muffin tin like this one from Amazon) with a little melted butter. Sift the superfine sugar and flour into a large bowl and stir in the ground almonds. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the egg whites until you have a loose foam.
3. Fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients. Pour in the melted butter and add the orange zest, pistachios and vanilla.
4. Half-fill the tiers with better and add two rhubarb pieces to each. Cover with the remaining batter to just below the top of the tin.
5. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden and firm. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out (you might need to run a knife around the edges). Finish cooling on a wire rack and decorate with edible flowers just before serving.

These tasty French-style muffins can be kept fresh in a sealed container. If you're a fan of rhubarb you may also like to try this lavender and vanilla custard pudding with rhubarb recipe. It's tasty!