Fig, date & almond friands

Although I’ve been to France countless times, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a friand on sale there. Yet the first time I tasted one, back in the mid-’80s in New Zealand, I was told they were a cake to be found all over France! Clearly I had been frequenting the wrong cafés and shops. Friands of varying flavours and persuasions can be found sitting on counters in many New Zealand and Australian cafés alongside an eclectic selection of muffins, biscuits, lamingtons and fairy-cakes. Research ha