I love Friands, known in France as a small cake, they are light to eat and delicious. Glenn and I are off, for just under 6 weeks, next month to Europe. A lovely English couple used our motor home during some of our Summer and we will use theirs in some of their Summer.We are going to escape, some of our cold winter. We will pop over to France for a couple of days and I will be sure to try a Friand there.

Orange and Coriander Friands

80 gr rice flour

110 gr ground almonds

zest 2 oranges

2 tbsp coriander seeds - crushed in a mortar and pestle to a fine powder, or use a blender.

6 egg whites

150 gr unsalted butter - melted

3 tbsp rice malt syrup or runny honey

Icing - soft cheese

Yogurt - about 300 mls (or more if you want) - This is a guest, I had some made up soft cheese that was in my fridge, I used this for the icing.

Orange juice

Malt syrup or honey

1 - Make your Labneh (soft cheese ) the night before - Pour about 300 gr thick plain, unsweetened yogurt in a large piece of muslin, tie up with a rubber band and sit it in a sieve. Place the sieve in a bowl, making sure there is a large gap between the sieve and the base. Place a small plate on top of the muslin and then something heavy on top of that. Place in the fridge.

During the night the ''whey''( yellow coloured liquid ) will separate from the curd. You will be using the curd for this recipe. The whey can be frozen or used straight away in white sauces, fermenting sauerkraut or in soups. It is high in protein.

Add to your soft cheese - orange juice and malt syrup or honey. This will depend on how sweet you would like it. Mix together and spoon into a piping bag. Pipe on friands when cooled.

Leftover curd can be mixed with fresh herbs and spread over crackers.

Method for Friands

Oven 180 c grease - friand tray - oval shape , or use a muffin tray

1 - In a small pot, bring your rice malt syrup, butter and your ground coriander, up to a simmer and turn off and cool.

2 - In a large bowl mix the ground almonds and the rice flour together.

3 - Make a well in the centre and add your egg whites, zest and your cooled rice malt syrup.

3 - Whisk until combined.

4 - Spoon into your tray, 3/4 full. You can make them smaller than mine, and then you will get more.

Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, testing with a skewer - Cool slightly before removing.

Have all your ingredients ready.

Grind up your coriander seeds.

Heat your butter, malt syrup and ground seeds. Cool

Separate your eggs.

Mix into the flours the wet ingredients.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop mixture into the tray. You could put less mixture into the tray, creating more friands.

Grease your tray.

They are served upside down.

Soft cheese - pour your yogurt into a piece of muslin and fold your cloth over. Place a plate on top and a heavy pot on top of the plate. Place in the fridge over night.