There’s just something about matcha (Japanese green tea powder) that sings out to me. I love its flavour in my desserts and pastries.
This time, it has found its way in one of my all time favourite afternoon tea snack – the humble friand. Some might refer to them as ‘financiers’. Well, to me, a friand by any other name still taste as great.
My sister was going through a hair-pulling, stressful period when she had to take a full day of exams. You might have heard of the incredibly intensive and tediously tough CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exams.
I wanted to give her some encouragement and help but I’m far from being a math genius and my affinity to numbers is close to zero. All I can do is what I know best – baking.
And baking was what I did.
She ate them slightly warm and relished every mouthful. You can tell that she loved it from the way her entire face lit up.
And trust me, I have not seen that poor girl’s face lighting up in the entire week leading up to her exams.
Recipe: Matcha & raspberry friands (financiers)
Makes 9 small friands (using regular muffin moulds)
I filled them up to the 2/3 mark so they are pretty small but that’s the way I want them to be.
This is a Japanese inspired version of one of my favourite tea cakes. I love how the cake is moist and flavourful. You need quite a bit of matcha powder for the flavour and the colour to come through. Raspberries go well with the matcha – it’s like the unexpected kick in acidity.
Ingredients:
95g unsalted butter, cubed
135g egg whites
150g granulated sugar
100g almond meal
60g flour
12g matcha (Japanese green tea powder. Not the same as tea leaves)
pinch of salt
Optional: Fresh/frozen raspberries
Method:
1. Grease your muffin tins thoroughly with butter and dust flour sparingly over it.
2. Prepare a Beurre Noisette (French for “browned butter”): Heat the butter in a pan over low-medium fire and allow it to cook until it is golden brown in colour. Turn off the fire and take it off the heat once it is golden brown, otherwise, it will go from golden brown to black very quickly. Allow the beurre noisette to cool to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. In a bowl, place sugar, flour and ground almond, matcha powder and salt together. Whisk the dry ingredients a little. Add in the (cooled) beurre noisette (including the brown sediments) and whisk to combine.
4. Add in the egg whites slowly while whisking till incorporated. You do not need to create too much volume in the egg whites. I do all this by hand as you just need the batter to come together.
5. Spoon the friands batter into the greased muffin moulds. Place a raspberry into the centre of the friand. Bake in a 190 degrees preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until it springs back to touch.
6. Allow it to cool slightly in the muffin tins before unmoulding. Cool them completely on wire racks before serving.


















