Rhubarb, Lemon & Ginger Friands

Rhubarb, lemon & ginger friands

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the tidy-up we had in our garden and one of the things I was looking forward to was the rhubarb growing so all the family could enjoy it in some tasty treats. All four of us are rhubarb fans and the brilliant thing about rhubarb is that it is so easy to grow. The variety we have is Timperley Early but due to the seemingly constant snow in the past months it hasn't been as early as usual. Despite living in Yorkshire we don't force it but simply let it die down at the end of the season and then wait for it to come back up the next year. That's it. The perfect crop for a lazy gardener.

I've recently acquired 8 mini loaf tins which I have been desperate to use. Therefore I decided to posh up my usual style and make some friands. You can buy special friand tins but these tins have worked just as well. My tins measure 9cm x 6cm around the top and have a depth of 4cm. You can also bake these in muffin cases. If you do use muffin cases or another sort of tin just make sure the mixture doesn't come any further than two-thirds of the way up the sides.

This month's Recipes for Life challenge for the Swallow charity is rhubarb, lemon and spice and since these contain the magical trio I will be submitting them to Vanesther at Bangers & Mash.

With the seasonal rhubarb I will also be sending this to Ren Behan for Simple and in Season. Although, I expect she is probably sick of the sight of rhubarb recipes by now. I'm sorry.

 

My tip for this recipe is don't melt the butter until you need it otherwise it will cool and turn back into its original state. Obviously this was done purely for recipe testing methods...If you are wondering what to do with the leftover 5 egg yolks I make a rich scrambled eggs with mine. Alternatively you could also buy cartons of egg whites in the supermarkets now. I've never tried them but I have heard very good reports about them.

Equipment: 8 friand/little loaf tins or muffin tin lined, electric whisk.

Ingredients

2½ oz (75g) Plain Flour

7oz (200g) Icing sugar

1 tsp (5ml) Ground ginger

4½ oz (125g) Ground almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

5 Egg whites

6oz (175g) unsalted butter, melted

1 stick (about 2oz/50g) Rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces.

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

2. Grease the friand/loaf tins or line a muffin tin with paper cases.

3. In a large bowl sift the flour, icing sugar and ground ginger.

4. Stir in the ground almonds and lemon zest.

5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy – not stiff peaks!

6. Melt the butter.

7. Fold in the egg whites and butter into the dry ingredients.

8. Spoon the mixture into the tins or cases.

9. Place the rhubarb pieces on top of each friand.

10. Bake for about 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

11. Leave in the tins for about 5 minutes to cool slightly and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.