12 things: bake cakes

It was a lemon friand kind of day.

I was feeling particularly disheartened one recent day when nothing, not even a spot of shopping, could lift my mood. I indulged in a morning of useless self-pity; slumped on the couch, sulking and incessantly sighing. And then I decided to bake, because (and it's true) cakes make everything better. So today, I am sharing my recipe for happiness:

Lemon friands (makes 12)

Ingredients

• 190g unsalted butter
• 60g plain flour
• 1 1/3 cups (200g) icing sugar, plus extra to dust
• 120g almond meal
• 5 eggwhites
• Grated zest of 1 lemon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Melt butter and use a little to grease a 12-hole friand pan. Dust with a little flour, shaking out excess.

2. Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl, then stir in the almond meal.

3. Place eggwhites in a small bowl and lightly froth with a fork. Add to dry ingredients with melted butter and zest, stirring until completely combined. Fill each friand hole two-thirds full. Bake for 25-35 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.