Name: Blackberry Friands (Star Anise Recipe)
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 6.4 oz (180 g) unsalted butter; 1/3 cup + 7 tsp (60 g) all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 cups + 5 tsp (200 g) powdered (icing) sugar; 1 1/4 cups (120 g) almond meal (ground almonds); 1 1/2 tsp ground star anise (optional); 1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp (150 g egg) whites (see note #1); 1 pinch of salt; 8-16 fresh blackberries

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Quick Summary: Blackberry friands are little oval almond cakes made with brown butter, egg whites, almond meal, fresh blackberries, and star anise. The one-bowl batter bakes in a friand mold in about 20 to 25 minutes, giving moist cakes with golden edges. This recipe makes 8, and a dusting of icing sugar finishes them for coffee or teatime.

What is a friand?

A friand (pronounced "free-AHND") is a small almond cake popular mainly in Australia and New Zealand. It is made with almond meal, egg whites, and brown butter, and often carries extra flavorings such as berries, nuts, citrus, or spices like the star anise used here.

Friands are close cousins of French financiers. Both rely on almond and brown butter, but friands use more egg white and are traditionally baked in oval molds, while financiers are smaller and rectangular. If you do not have an oval friand pan, a silicone friand mold or a muffin pan works well. This blackberry and star anise version is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, who feature it in their baking recipes.

A few blackberry almond friands on serving board

Why you'll love this recipe

One bowl, no mixer needed. The batter comes together by hand in minutes.
Brown butter flavor. Nutty brown butter gives the cakes a rich, toasty taste.
Naturally gluten-free friendly. Swap the small amount of flour for a gluten-free blend, and they still work.
Juicy berries in every bite. Fresh blackberries stay tart against the sweet almond crumb.
Great for gifting and lunchboxes. They travel well and make a nice edible gift.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter.

Flour: Use all-purpose flour, the same as plain flour.

Icing sugar: Make it at home using a coffee grinder or use store-bought powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar).

Almond meal: Use coarse almond meal or ground almonds. If unavailable, replace it with finely ground almond flour.

Star anise is optional, but it brings a warm flavor you don't want to miss. Use ground star anise or make it yourself by crushing three whole star anises in a spice grinder and passing it through a mini-sieve two to three times.

Egg whites: Separate egg whites from the egg yolks using an egg separator while the eggs are cold. Then, bring egg whites to room temperature. Use leftover egg yolks to make creme Anglaise, Italian pastry cream, or Torta Mimosa.

Pro tip: For leftover frozen egg whites, be sure they are completely thawed and at room temperature before beginning the recipe.

Salt enhances the flavor of friands.

Blackberries are the stars of friands. Choose fresh blackberries or substitute with fresh raspberries or strawberry slices. Frozen berries can also be used, but keep them unthawed to prevent color "bleeding" into the batter.

Equipment

You need only a few basic tools to make these blackberry friands:

Oval friand pan, silicone friand mold, or muffin pan
Fine-mesh sieve
Small saucepan
Mixing bowls
Whisk or electric mixer
Rubber spatula
Wire cooling rack

How to make blackberry friands

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Prepare a silicone friand mold (no need to grease it). If you use a nonstick friand pan, butter and flour its cavities, and refrigerate the tin until ready to use.

Pro tip: If using a silicone mold, read how to bake with silicone molds.

Step 2. To make the brown butter, cut the butter into small pieces and place it in a small saucepan. Bring the pan over low to medium heat and melt the butter until golden brown.

Watch out for solid browned milk solids on the sides and bottom of the pan and a hazelnut smell.

Pro tip: Consult the brown butter recipe for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 3. Pour the butter into another bowl to stop cooking, keeping the browned solids. Let the brown butter cool to room temperature.

Step 4. To make the friand batter, sift all-purpose flour, icing (powdered) sugar, almond meal, ground star anise, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Step 5. In a clean, separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer or a hand whisk for 15-20 seconds (photo 1).

Step 6. Pour egg whites into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add cooled butter and mix gently until just combined (photo 2).

PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

Step 7. Take the prepared mold out of the fridge and fill the cavities to two-thirds full. Arrange 1-2 whole blackberries on top (photo 3).

Step 8. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the edges become golden brown. Test with a toothpick: insert it in the center of the cake; it should come out clean.

Step 9. Take the cakes out of the oven and let them cool in the mold for 3-5 minutes. To help loosen them, use a butter knife to run carefully around the sides of each friand.

Step 10. Turn the pan onto a wire rack and let the cakes cool completely (photo 4).

Friand batter topped with blackberries in a mold

PHOTO 3

PHOTO 4

To serve, dust friands with icing sugar.

A batch of blackberry almond cakes on a marble board

Expert tips

Watch the brown butter closely. Cook until the milk solids turn golden and smell nutty, then pour off the heat right away so it doesn't burn.
Do not overwhip the egg whites. Beat them only until frothy, not stiff, so the friands stay moist.
Chill the filled molds. A short rest in the fridge before baking helps the friands rise with a domed top.
Place the berries on top. Set blackberries on the batter rather than stirring them in, so they do not sink or make the crumb soggy.
Adjust for your pan. In a metal friand pan, bake at 355°F (180°C) for 20-25 minutes; in a regular muffin tray the batter fills about ten cups, so bake at 355°F (180°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Scale the batch. This recipe makes 8 friands; for a 12-cavity mold, multiply the ingredients by 1.5.
Test for doneness. The edges should be golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Recipe variations

Once you know the base recipe, try these variations:

Other berries. Swap blackberries for raspberries, blueberries, or halved strawberries.
Hazelnut friands. Replace part of the almond meal with ground hazelnuts for a toasty flavor, in the style of Nigel Slater.
Citrus. Add lemon or orange zest to the batter for a fresh, bright note.
Icing sugar glaze. Whisk icing sugar with a little lemon juice and drizzle it over cooled friands instead of dusting them.
Chocolate. Fold in a spoonful of cocoa powder or a few chopped dark chocolate pieces.
Gluten-free. Replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free blend; the almond base keeps the texture moist.
Pistachio. Use pistachio flour in place of some almond meal for a green, nutty twist.

Storing & freezing

Friands are best eaten the day they're baked. Store blackberry friands in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.

To freeze friands, wrap them one by one in a double layer of plastic film, then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Bring friands to the refrigerator overnight or the kitchen counter for a few hours to thaw. Reheat in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes, then microwave on high (100%) for about 20-30 seconds.

Recipe FAQ

What is the difference between a friand and a financier?
Both are small almond and brown butter cakes, but friands use more egg white and are baked in oval molds, while financiers are smaller and rectangular. Friands are popular in Australia and New Zealand, and financiers come from France.

Can you make friands without almond meal?
Yes. You can replace almond meal with almond flour or another nut flour, such as hazelnut or pistachio flour.

How do you keep friands from sticking to the pan?
Grease the friand tin with softened butter, then dust it with flour and tap out the excess. A silicone mold also releases the cakes easily.

Can I use frozen blackberries?
Yes. Add frozen blackberries straight to the batter without thawing so they do not bleed too much color into the crumb.

Do friands need to be refrigerated?
No. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze them for longer storage.

How many calories are in a blackberry friand?
Each friand has about 387 calories, though this varies with size and toppings.

Looking for French teacakes? Try these next!

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Recipe card

Blackberry Friands (Star Anise Recipe)

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5 from 20 reviews

Blackberry friands are little oval almond cakes made with brown butter, egg whites, almond meal, fresh blackberries, and star anise. This easy recipe makes 8 moist friands in about an hour, dusted with icing sugar for coffee or teatime.

Author: Irina Totterman
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 8 friands 1x
Category: Cakes
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Australian

Ingredients

Scale

6.4 oz (180 g) unsalted butter
⅓ cup + 7 teaspoon (60 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups + 5 teaspoon (200 g) powdered (icing) sugar
1 ¼ cups (120 g) almond meal (ground almonds)
1 ½ tsp ground star anise (optional)
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoon (150 g egg) whites (see note #1)
1 pinch of salt
8-16 fresh blackberries

* If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Prepare a silicone friand mold (no need to grease it). If you use a nonstick friand pan, butter and flour its cavities, and refrigerate the tin until ready to use.
To make the brown butter, cut the butter into small pieces and place it in a small saucepan. Bring the pan over low to medium heat and melt the butter until golden brown. Watch for a golden-brown color, solid brown milk solids on the sides and bottom of the pan, and a hazelnut smell.
Pour the butter into another bowl to stop cooking, keeping the browned solids. Let the brown butter cool to room temperature.
To make the friand batter, sift all-purpose flour, icing (powdered) sugar, almond meal, ground star anise, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a clean, separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer or a hand whisk for 15-20 seconds. Pour egg whites into the flour mixture, and stir until combined. Add cooled melted butter and mix gently until just combined.
Take the prepared mold out of the fridge and fill the cavities to two-thirds full. Arrange 1-2 whole blackberries on top.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the edges become golden brown. Test with a toothpick: it comes out clean.
Take the cakes out of the oven and let them cool in the mold for 3-5 minutes. To help loosen them, use a butter knife to run carefully around the sides of each friand. Turn the pan onto a wire rack and let the cakes cool completely. To serve, dust friands with icing sugar.

Notes

150 g egg whites are approximately equal to 4 raw fresh egg whites from extra-large-sized chicken eggs.
To make ground star anise, crush 3 whole star anises in a spice grinder and pass through a mini-sieve two to three times.
Avoid overwhipping egg whites: they shouldn't be mounted.
If you use a metal friand pan, bake your friands at 355°F (180°C) for 20-25 minutes.
This recipe makes 8 friands. If you have a friand mold with 12 cavities, multiply the recipe ingredients by 1.5.
The friand batter fills about ten cups of a regular muffin tray. Bake at 355°F (180°C) for 15-20 minutes (use a toothpick test).

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1
Calories: 387
Sugar: 26.3 g
Sodium: 168 mg
Fat: 25.9 mg
Saturated Fat: 12.1 g
Carbohydrates: 35.3 g
Fiber: 2.5 g
Protein: 6.3 g
Cholesterol: 48 mg

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://ottolenghi.co.uk/. It was originally published on January 20, 2020. The recipe has been updated and may differ from what was originally published.

For reference, if you have made this recipe before and want to replicate it, the original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of orange zest, added at the same time as the brown butter.

What is a friand?

Why you'll love this recipe

Ingredients

Equipment

How to make blackberry friands

Expert tips

Recipe variations

Storing & freezing

Recipe FAQ

Looking for French teacakes? Try these next!

Recipe card

Blackberry Friands (Star Anise Recipe)

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

About Irina Totterman

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