Lemon Curd Friands

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the tins on a lipped baking tray. 

Combine the flour, almonds and icing sugar in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a fork until foamy. Mix into the dry ingredients then add the butter and lemon zest and stir to combine well. The batter will be of pouring consistency.

Transfer the batter to a jug and fill each tin ⅔ full. Top each friand with a teaspoon of lemon curd and lightly swirl it through with a toothpick.

Bake for 25–30 minutes, turning the tray for even browning until the friands are golden and firm when pressed.

Cool for 5 minutes then run a knife around the inside edge of each tin to loosen. Remove from the tins and place curd side up on a cooling rack. When cool, simply dust with icing sugar or add the curd, mascarpone and almonds as suggested above. Makes 12.

Cook’s Tip: If filling with mascarpone, don’t stir it before using otherwise it will become too runny. I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour, available from good food stores, health food shops and some supermarkets.