Fig and Cardamom Tea Cakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup ground almonds (I just grind them in my food processor)
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated)
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 4 egg whites
• 6 fresh figs (cut into half)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter the insides of a muffin tray lightly and set inside.
3. Heat the butter in a small saute pan until it turns medium brown. Keep an eye on it, it can burn fast! Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. In a food processor, pulse together ground almonds, powdered sugar, rice flour, salt, cardamom, nutmeg and lemon zest.
5. Add the egg whites and pulse a few times until blended. (It only took me 3 pulses)
6. Add the browned butter and pulse a few more times until the mixture is well blended and smooth. (Took me 5 pulses this time)
7. Divide the batter into the muffin cups. It took 3 tablespoons per muffin cup for me, yes I counted.
8. Top each cup with half of a fig and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tray. Remove and cool on a cooling rack.

Nutrition

• Serving Unit: cakes
• Serving Size: 2
• Calories: 339
• Carbohydrates: 37
• Protein: 5
• Fat: 20
• Saturated Fat: 10
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1
• Monounsaturated Fat: 4
• Trans Fat: 1
• Cholesterol: 41
• Sodium: 218
• Potassium: 163
• Fiber: 3
• Sugar: 28
• Vitamin A: 544
• Vitamin C: 1
• Calcium: 46
• Iron: 1