Pistachio, orange and brown butter friands

Prep Cook Makes Cost 10 min 40 min 9

Less than 50p each

120g unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing 80g pistachio nuts 30g Bird’s custard powder (or cornflour)

120g caster sugar Zest of 1 orange ¼ tsp fine salt 3 large egg whites 1 small handful flaked almonds Icing sugar, to dust

These little cakes, which are made with egg whites for extra chewiness and brown butter for an unmatched depth of flavour, are so simple to throw together (once you’ve made a batch of brown butter, that is, but I consider that an important life skill). If you wanted to drizzle over a little orange blossom honey before serving, that would be delicious, but in their basic, non-honeyed form, and simply dusted with a snowfall of icing sugar, these are perfect. And – win-win – they’re gluten-free, too.

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/ gas 6. Grease nine of the holes of a 12-hole muffin pan with butter – to ensure the friands don’t stick, it’s best to grease, chill in the freezer, then repeat.

Put the butter in a saucepan on a medium heat and leave to melt.

Increase the heat, bring up to a bubble, then swirl the pan until the butter smells gloriously nutty and has a fine, cappuccino-like foam on top. Take off the heat, pour into a bowl and leave to cool.

In a small food processor, grind the nuts, custard powder, sugar, zest and salt to a fine powder.

In a bowl, whisk the egg whites to a mousse-like foam, then fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in the cooled brown butter, just until you have a smooth batter. Divide between the nine greased holes of the muffin pan, top with a scattering of flaked almonds, then bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took 17), until puffed up and firm. Turn out on to a rack and leave to cool. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

John Whaite is a cookery writer and TV presenter