pear & cinnamon friands

Isn’t she beautiful?

Oh yes she is. And she tastes even better, laced with cinnamon and studded with pear. I have a real thing for friands. It just takes muffin to a whole new level. Light, soft and almond-y. Oh - you don’t know what friands are? Here is some background.

“A financier is a small French cake, often mistaken for a pastry. [It] is a light, moist teacake, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. The basis of the cake itself is beurre noisette (brown butter), egg whites, powdered sugar and flour. Financiers are often baked in shaped molds. The name “financier” is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding La Bourse du Commerce (the former name of the Paris stock exchange).” [Wikipedia]

Interesting huh. Well, I thought so. New Zealand and Australia are more familiar with friands than financiers. In fact, I had never heard of the financier before and was surprised to learn it is the same as a friand. Ours are a bit different from the traditional French financier however, as we use such extras as coconut, berries and nuts, or pears and cinnamon in my case.

I was very excited to find the kitchen we have been housesitting at has this rectangular mold, so I was more than eager to create my own bars of gold! And coincidentally, The Kitchen recently taught me how they make their famous friands! Yess! I was so pleased to be able to recreate them in my own kitchen. Now we can serve them at Hammond St Cafe alongside J’s homebrewed espresso. For this reason I shall not post the recipe - I’d hate to betray my favourite little cafe. Instead, I say, head along to River Kitchen Cafe and grab yourself one of these!

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