Iron Chef Shellie
 

Quinoa, Almond & Cherry Friands

Why not mill some quinoa into flour and make cupcakes! It provides for a lovely toffee flavour.

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Recipes

Quinoa, Almond & Cherry Friands
March 9, 2013
Recipes

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Quinoa, Almond & Cherry Friands

Sorry, Thermomix Thursday kinda died in the ass didn’t it? Life is out of control at the moment in a good, I’m having too much fun kinda way. So it’s a Saturday night, I’ve and an amazing day with my friends trawling through vintage sheds and op shops in country side, had a dinner with family and feeling like a fat bastard full of food, currently trying to digest on the couch, with a large cup of peppermint tea and the fan on… cos it’s about 304239 degrees in Melbourne right now. So just pretend it’s a Thursday when you are reading this and all will be right in the world.

My new obsession with superfood quinoa didn’t stop with the awesome salad, it even got used in a dessert. I tried the lovely Tenina’s recipe for friands using my favourite toy, the Thermomix. I think I tried this recipe because I had an excess of cherries, and didn’t want to be sitting on the toilet for a week after eating too many. Cake only seemed like the logical option… as usual.

These cupcakes have an unusual, but comforting taste to them. You toast then mill the quinoa to provide the “flour” of the cake. This gives the end result a kind of caramely-coffee taste to them. I couldn’t find one person who didn’t like them. The cherry also cooks in the baking process and adds a great juicy hit to the friand.

Give it a whirl, you’ll thank me later 😉

Quinoa, Almond & Cherry Friands
Recipe by Tenina 

160g almonds
50g quinoa
250g raw sugar
5 egg whites
1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste
150g butter, melted

1. Fresh cherries as needed

2. Preheat oven to 220ºC and place paper liners into 12 hole muffin or friand tin.

3. Place almonds and quinoa into oven and dry roast 8 minutes. Cool.

4. Place almonds, quinoa and sugar into Thermo bowl and mill 15 sec/speed 10.

5. Add egg whites and vanilla and blend 20 sec/speed 4.

6. With lid closed, pour butter through hole in lid as you beat 30 sec/speed 4.

7. Divide between friands and place a cherry into the batter in each, the stalk sticking out of the friand.

8. Bake 20 minutes or until puffed, golden and set in centre.

Cool before eating…trust me! (And remember the cherries still have pits!!)

Comments

16 comments on “Quinoa, Almond & Cherry Friands
  1. GourmetGetaways

    Lol! I am happy to pretend that it is Thursday… I would love to try one of your “healthy” cakes, I’m guessing the more I eat the healthier I will get 😉

    March 10, 2013 at 10:01 am
    • Iron Chef Shellie

      Totally more healthier 😉

      March 13, 2013 at 12:10 pm
  2. Winnie @ Eat.Play.Shop.

    Yay, thermomix recipes are back, and these look yummy and not too hard to make!
    I’ve been obsessed with finding paper cupcake liners of different colours and patterns everywhere I go lately. So convenient and pretty!

    March 10, 2013 at 10:30 am
  3. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

    I’ve eaten quinoa lots but I’ve never baked with it. These look so good I don’t think I could resist.

    March 10, 2013 at 10:33 am
  4. msihua

    Oh man babe.. i’m loving the cupcake cup paper you’ve used! NOMS!

    March 10, 2013 at 1:40 pm
  5. tania@mykitchenstories.com.au

    Wow Quinoa is just so versatile isn’t it. the flavour combo is great

    March 10, 2013 at 3:44 pm
  6. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

    They look so good! And I love the chevron fabric in the background too-very stylish Shellie! Was that a vintage find? 🙂

    March 10, 2013 at 10:41 pm
  7. Daisy@Nevertoosweet

    These look great and I have the same cupcake wrappers but in pink hehe ~ Sighhhh you’re thermomix posts are going to taunt me again until I get one 😛

    March 11, 2013 at 3:33 pm
  8. Marta @ What should I eat for breakfast today

    I made cupcakes out of oats but never from quinoa. I’m in love with this healthy food as well. Your cupcakes look delicious!

    March 11, 2013 at 4:56 pm
  9. Tina @ bitemeshowme

    Never would have thought to put quinoa in friands. They sound delicious!!

    March 11, 2013 at 10:01 pm
  10. Helen (Grab Your Fork)

    Have been getting to quinoa quite a lot lately but haven’t yet tried baking it with it. These sound luscious and I love the little cherry on top too!

    March 12, 2013 at 12:32 pm
  11. Libby

    I’m reading this on a Tuesday… I guess that’s close enough to a Thursday haha.

    I hope that the markets are still selling cherries at the moment because I wouldn’t mind making this.

    March 12, 2013 at 6:49 pm
  12. Nav

    I was wondering 2 things – firstly did you use white or black quinoa? Secondly, can you toast the quinoa and almonds in the thermomix instead of oven kind of like you do with spices to save time?

    March 22, 2013 at 8:29 pm
    • Iron Chef Shellie

      Hi Nav,

      I used white quinoa. I’m sure you probably could toast in the TM, but I was just following Tenina’s recipe. She used to be a recipe developer for TM so I didn’t even think to change it!

      March 23, 2013 at 9:43 pm
  13. Agnes

    These look so good – love those muffin cups. 🙂

    March 23, 2013 at 1:11 pm
  14. Tenina

    Thanks for the gorgeous pics Shelley, you are the pic princess…just beautiful…Glad you enjoyed.
    😀

    June 25, 2013 at 5:56 pm
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Shellie Froidevaux

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