Raspberry Friands

I haven’t baked for weeks, mainly because I’m not allowed to eat any baked goods seeing as they’re high in cholesterol. It’s really hard to resist conjuring up pastries and cakes if you’re not supposed to use eggs or butter. I started using soy margarine now which should remove the dreaded artery clogging substance from my veins so I have to eat some “butter” but eggs or the yolks at least, are definitely banned.

Now that the picnic season is upon us, I’ve been lured into the kitchen once again to create some tasty bit sized summery snacks that will do my adorable polka dotted picnic blanket justice. I personally love a picnic, it’s the only kind of al fresco dining people without a garden can enjoy.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this Australian delight this week: blueberry friands, small cake like tarts with a little butter (which I naturally substituted with the soy equivalent) and no egg yolks! They were all out of blueberries at the market so I made a raspberry version. Feast your eyes on these babies:

• 50g soy butter, melted and cooled
• 100g icing sugar
• 25g flour
• 85g ground almonds
• 3 egg whites
• 80g blueberries or raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Pop some cake cases into a cake tin.
2. Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl, and add the ground almonds.
3. Whisk the egg whites until foamy.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and tip in the egg whites. Add the butter and gently stir to make a soft, smooth batter.
5. Fill each cake case about three-quarters full. Top each with a few berries and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and springy.
6. Leave to cool on a cooling rack and dust with icing sugar.