• Red Currant and Pistachio Friands

    March 21, 2026 /

    These friands – or little almond based cakes – are an adaptation of an Ottolenghi recipe out of his beloved Plenty More cookbook. I first made them when I happened to have some fresh black currants on hand, and the moment I tried one, they became an immediate favorite. Unfortunately, where I live, fresh currants can be difficult to find. So rare was the chance that I would find some that making this recipe became almost exclusive. And mandatory. If I had currants, they were reserved for these cakes – hands down. More recently, however, I have discovered a couple small, local grocers who stock them more frequently, in both frozen and fresh options, giving the me opportunity to make them more often and to experiment with my own version.

    Since I have started following a mostly low-carb lifestyle, enjoying sweets like these is more difficult, or at least a rarity, especially when the original has almost 80 g of net carbs per serving. That’s about 4x the total carbs one is supposed to have in a day on a keto diet. But I love these little cakes so much that I had to find a way to make them a bit healthier and just as delicious. Here, I present a much lower carb version that doesn’t compromise on flavor. I have adapted Ottolenghi’s recipe to use significantly less sugar and only almond and pistachio as the “flour” base. These cakes are still a sweet treat. They are admittedly not keto but do fit into a low-carb lifestyle. Coming in at only 24 g of net carbs per cake, they have just enough sugar to satisfy a sweet tooth without feeling guilty.

    While friands are actually cakes popular in New Zealand and Australia, the name itself is French, having originated from an adaptation of French financiers. The direct translation of the French word friand – dainty, tasty item, or fond of – is actually quite fitting for multiple reasons. Not only are these dainty, tasty cakes of which I am very fond, but like most gluten-free and lower-carb baked goods, they are delicate in texture and structure. Making them requires both patience and an aerated egg-white protein structure, a.k.a. folding meringue into your batter. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature; it really does make a difference. If you need to bring them up to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of slightly warm water for about 5 minutes. I also highly recommend using the weight measurements provided when following this recipe, as I developed it using grams rather than cups.

    This recipe makes six tall muffin-like cakes. I originally made it in a standard 6-cup popover pan, which gives them their height. If you prefer, you can also bake them in a regular muffin tin, in which case you should get 12 friands. You may need to check their doneness sooner since they will each be a bit smaller, and you may need to increase how much glaze you make in order to cover the greater surface area. If you would like to reduce the sugar even further, feel free to omit the glaze from the top and sprinkle the pistachios on top of each cake before putting them in the oven. However, to be honest, the glaze with the pistachios is quite literally (and figuratively) the icing on the cake. The extra touch of sweetness and lemony zing brighten each bite, elevating them from something more akin to a muffin to a royal treatment for your tastebuds.

    Red Currant and Pistachio Friands

    These little cakes are an absolute delight! Low in sugar but with just enough to satisfy a sweet-tooth, they hit all the right notes.
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    Keywords: Low Sugar, Pistachio
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Cooling Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 479 kcal
    Net Carbs: 24 g

    Ingredients
     

    • 9 Tbsp (126 g) butter, divided into 8 and 1 Tbsp
    • 1-2 Tbsp (7.5 g) flour
    • 1 cup (120 g) pistachios
    • 1 scant cup (100 g) blanched almond flour
    • 1/3 cup (66 g) sugar, divided into 1 Tbsp, 2 Tbsp, and remainder
    • 1.5 tsp (6 g) baking powder
    • 1/4 tsp (0.5 g) cinnamon
    • 1 tsp (6 g) salt
    • zest of 1 whole lemon
    • 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
    • 5.1 oz (145 g) red currants, 12 reserved for the tops
    • 2 tsp lemon juice
    • 1/4 cup (25 g) powdered sugar

    Instructions

    • Melt the 1 Tbsp of butter and generously brush 6 extra-large muffin cups or the cups of a popover pan (for tall muffins). Dust with the flour (best to use real flour for this), then stick the pan in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
    • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
    • Pulse the pistachios in a food processor with 1 Tbsp of the sugar. The sugar helps prevent clumping. Do not over-process or you will end up with nut butter! The texture should be like very coarse sand.
    • Add the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and lemon zest to the food processor and pulse until mixed and medium to finely ground.
    • Melt the 8 Tbsp of butter in a small bowl in the microwave in 20-30 second increments until fully melted. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks and the "remainder" of the separated sugar (you should still have about 2 Tbsp set aside for use after this step) in a large bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until pale and thick and slightly increased in volume. The viscosity should be at a ribbon stage. Slowly add the melted, but slightly cooled, butter to the egg mixture and mix on low to combine.
    • Fold the nut crumb mixture into the egg yolk mixture until fully incorporated. If it looks too oily, add a 1/2 tsp of baking powder. The mixture will be coarse and thick.
    • In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites until foamy and soft peaks start to form. Sprinkle in the last 2 Tbsp of sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in 1/3 of the meringue to the batter to lighten it. Then repeat with the second 1/3 and the final third until fully combined. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites.
    • Fold in the red currants.
    • Fill each of the prepared muffin cups 2/3 of the way up side with the batter. Dot the top of each cup with 2-3 more red currants. Bake for 20-25 min until a toothpick or knife comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs attached.
    • Let the cakes cool for at least 20 min in the pan before attempting to remove them. They will be delicate when warm.
    • Mix the lemon juice and sugar into a glaze, and coarsely chop the remaining Tbsp of pistachios. Brush the glaze over the tops of each cake and immediately sprinkle with a few pistachio crumbs so that they stick in the glaze. Let sit for several minutes to let the glaze solidify before serving. The cakes should last about a week at room temperature if covered.

    Notes and Tips

    These can be made with either red or black currents, either frozen or fresh. If using frozen, however, do make sure to defrost and drain any excess water. Fresh currants are best but can sometimes be hard to find depending on where you live. 
    I really recommend using the weight (gram) measurements when following this recipe. They are more accurate, as the recipe was developed using grams, so if you experience issues, it could be because of error introduced by the mass to volume conversion.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 479kcalFat: 37gSodium: 734mgNet Carbs: 24gSaturated Fat: 14gPotassium: 325mgCarbohydrates: 29gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gVitamin A: 1003IUFiber: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gVitamin C: 12mgSugar: 19gTrans Fat: 0gCalcium: 147mgProtein: 12gCholesterol: 109mgIron: 2mg