Pecans
Look for Arizona-grown pecans; the industry has been hard hit by imports and a major processing plant is shutting down at the end of the year. You can eat them raw, but toasting the nuts brings out th...
FRIANDS ARE the French cousins of financiers. Financiers use browned butter and mostly almond flour, whereas friands are made without browned butter and can use almost any nut.
This is a very easy recipe with everything made in one bowl. The only step you do separately is to blend/process the toasted pecan nuts until fine. Once that’s done, everything is combined and whisked in one bowl. The weight measures will provide the most accurate amounts but we have also included approximate volume measures for bakers who prefer that method.
The friands are master baker Hope Mendrin’s favorite sweet from her Australian childhood, using pecans and Dulcey chocolate for a delightful treat. The Valhrona Dulcey blond chocolate is Mendrin’s preference because it reminds her of buttery shortbread with a hint of caramel and a pinch of salt. A perfect pairing with pecans, you will find Dulcey pecan cookies at Hope’s bakery because the flavor combination is so special and perfect for winter.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 12
Friands
- Butter (or cooking spray) for molds
- 200g (1½ cups) whole pecans, toasted
- 340g (3 cups) powdered sugar
- 100g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour
- 300g (1¼ cups) egg whites from approximately 10 large eggs
- 4g (¾ teaspoon) salt
- 120g (1 cup) grated Dulcey chocolate (or other chocolate of your choice)
- 300g (1⅓ cups) unsalted butter, melted
Dulcey Ganache
- 110g (½ cup) heavy whipping cream
- 125g (1 cup) grated Dulcey or other chocolate
- 20g (1½ tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 3g (1 teaspoon) instant coffee
- Pecans, toasted and chopped for garnish
Instructions
Heat oven to 350ºF.
Grease a 12-hole friand mold (or muffin tin) very well with butter to avoid sticking later. You can use any style of silicone molds; depending on the size of the muffin tin, you might need to bake the friands a little longer.
Put the pecans and powdered sugar into the bowl of a mini food processor and blend until pecans are finely ground. Transfer to a stand mixing bowl. Add the flour, egg whites, salt, chocolate and melted butter and whisk everything together for 4 minutes on medium speed, until combined.
Spoon the friand mixture evenly into the greased molds (they should be full).
Place molds in the preheated oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until tops are springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow friands to cool for 5–10 minutes.
Remove carefully from molds and place on a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
To make Dulcey ganache for decoration: Combine heavy whipping cream, Dulcey (or your choice) chocolate, unsalted butter and instant coffee in a bowl and microwave for one minute. Whisk the warm mixture together, until smooth. Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, or until thick.
When cooled, top the friands with the ganache and sprinkle with chopped toasted pecans.
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