Is there any such thing as too much lemon? These sticky little cakes with their lemon curd topping are perfect for morning or afternoon tea. Glam them up by halving and filling with a layer of lemon curd and mascarpone and top with toasted sliced almonds.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup gluten-free plain flour
125 grams ground almonds
200 grams icing sugar, sifted
5 egg whites
180 grams butter, melted and cooled
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
3 tablespoons lemon curd
To serve
icing sugar
12 friand tins or regular muffin tins, greased and bases lined with baking paper
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Place the tins on a lipped baking tray.
Combine the flour, almonds and icing sugar in a bowl.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a fork until foamy. Mix into the dry ingredients then add the butter and lemon zest and stir to combine well. The batter will be of pouring consistency.
Transfer the batter to a jug and fill each tin ⅔ full. Top each friand with a teaspoon of lemon curd and lightly swirl it through with a toothpick.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, turning the tray for even browning until the friands are golden and firm when pressed.
Cool for 5 minutes then run a knife around the inside edge of each tin to loosen. Remove from the tins and place curd side up on a cooling rack. When cool, simply dust with icing sugar or add the curd, mascarpone and almonds as suggested above. Makes 12.
Cook’s Tip: If filling with mascarpone, don’t stir it before using otherwise it will become too runny. I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour, available from good food stores, health food shops and some supermarkets.

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