Almond Friand

I always enjoy almond meal based baked desserts so thought I will put my thinking cap on. I generally enjoy desserts that aren't too fluffy or sugary and have fewer but stronger flavours. So, presented here is a Almond Friand/cake. The friand reference is an afterthought due to the similarity of the look and feel, and texture. I did not follow a recipe, this was purely a fluke based on ingredients I easily found in my pantry :)

Ingredients

Group 1
1 cup almond meal
1 cup self raising flour
3/4th cup castor sugar
1 pinch of salt

Group 2
200 ml mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp almond essence
1 tbsp vanilla paste
1 egg yolk

Fat
1 cup coconut oil (liquid form - microwaved)

Garnish
20 finely chopped almonds



Method
1. Gather Group 1 ingredients in a mixing bowl and keep aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix Group 2 ingredients well.
3 Microwave the coconut oil on high for 2 minutes or until it is liquiefed. Set aside for 30 seconds.
4. Pour the coconut oil into the mixing bowl, mixing well and add in the Group 2 ingredients. Whisk well for about 10-15 minutes.
5. Pre-heat fan enforced oven at 180 degrees.
6. Pour batter in mould (for the friand, I put roughly 1 tbsp of batter in to the mould).
7. Add chopped almonds on top.
8. Bake for about 30 mins until golden  brown.
9. Remove from oven and allow to set and cool.
10. Remove from mould and enjoy!