If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s still not a muffin.

Also, I love that my auto-correct wants to change “friands” to “friends”…if I could count these babies amongst my bosom companions, I would consider myself very fortunate indeed! Until the time came to eat them, of course. Polite society frowns on the eating of friends.

Unless you have the pleasure of owning a baking tin designed for friands, you’ll be using a muffin tin for this recipe. That does not make this a muffin.

These little nuggets of delicious are everything I want in a sweet: the flavour is complex, at once nutty and sweet and bitter and sour; they are perfect at any time day; they improve overnight; they are perfectly sized for enjoying on one’s own or for splitting in half to share with a friend over tea or coffee. I admit I was sceptical when I first made these, but they won me over with the initial deliciously bitter burst of black currant on my tongue. These are best enjoyed the day after they are baked, with a cup of black tea with milk.

I have adapted these friands from a recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty More, and while this sticks pretty true to the intended flavour profile, I have made such changes to the ingredients and method as suit me.

Black Currant Friands

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

scant 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

scant 1/2 cup ground almonds

scant 1/2 cup pistachios

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sugar, divided

half a lemon’s worth of zest

1 tbsp neutral oil (I use sunflower seed)

3 egg whites

1 cup of fresh black currants, picked over and tossed with 1 tsp all-purpose flour

Lemon Glaze

3 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 2/3 cup icing sugar

Butter and flour a large, 6-cup muffin tin, then place parchment rounds in the bottom of each cup. Butter flour these too. Place the prepared tin in the freezer while you prepare the batter.

Put the nuts into the bowl of a food processor along with the flour, cinnamon and all but 2 tbsp of sugar. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs – the almonds will be finely ground and the pistachios a bit coarser. Place this mixture into a large bowl and stir in the melted butter, lemon zest and oil.

Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then add the reserved 2 tbsp sugar. Whisk to soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the nut mixture in thirds, folding the black currants in with the second third of egg whites.

Spoon the batter (which will be thick!) into the cold muffin tin, dividing evenly between each cup. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of a friand comes out clean. They will be dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin, unfolding by running a sharp knife round the edge of each friand.

For the glaze, whisk the lemon juice with the icing sugar in a small bowl (or a measuring cup or bowl with a spout), adding more juice or sugar if necessary. The glaze should be very thick but pourable. Pour (or spoon) the glaze over the completely cooled friands, allowing it to drip down the sides. (This is easily cleaned up by placing the friands on a cooling rack with a sheet of parchment underneath – just wait for the glaze to set, then remove the friands to a platter.) You can garnish with some reserved pistachios, or a few black currants. Sprinkle these on while the glaze is still wet.