Christmas spiced friands

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Place the butter in a small saucepan and heat until foaming and browned. Remove from the heat and pour through a sieve, then leave to cool. Discard the white solids, leaving only the melted butter. Grease 10-holes of a friand or muffin tin with a little of the butter. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until just frothy. Sift over the flour, spices and icing sugar. Scatter with ground almonds and pour in the cooled butter. Fold into the egg whites and mix until smooth and without any lumps. You can chill the friand mix at this stage for 2 days before baking.

Fill each hole with some of the mix and place the tin or tins on a baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 mins until the friands have risen and are golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack. Eat slightly warm or completely cool, but the friands are best eaten on the day of baking. Dust with icing sugar before serving with Chestnut fool (see 'Goes well with').