Choc-chip friands with almonds

These little friands came about because I had a a large surplus of egg whites (well, 4) in my fridge that needed to be used. I didn't want to make a meringue, I'd already made the Chocolate Cake Meringue Cookies and I didn't really like my last attempt at angel food cake. In cases like this, I like to go to this post on Gourmet Sleuth and this post on David Lebovitz's blog which give you recipe suggestions based on how many egg whites/egg yolks you have at your disposal and it was David's post that sent me in search of friands.

According to Wikipedia, French financiers are typically baked in a rectangular mould whereas the Australian friand is more commonly oval. Since I purchased my rectangular muffin pan especially for these little guys, I clearly did not do enough research.

Anyway, there are heaps of friand recipes available on the internet, but I decided to give these Choc Chip Friands with Cinnamon and Almonds a try. I had all the ingredients on hand and the choc chips gave the teacake a little bit of a playful, cupcake vibe.

They were incredibly easy to make which was a very nice surprise. It was two bowl operation, one large one for mixing and a smaller one to melt the butter. I whisked the egg whites by hand so I didn't even have to worry about cleaning the mixer. I used Nestle Plaistowe Couverture Deluxe Chocolate with 63% cocoa. I love this chocolate and I have been having more and more trouble finding it in stores. Looking for a link on the Nestle website has made me realise that I might just have to face the fact that they have discontinued the product. I've linked to their website in a previous post, but there's no sign of it now.

This is the one I like. In taking the photo with the dodgy little webcam on my EeePC I noticed the big yellow sticker telling me that the 70% Cocoa will be replacing my beloved 63% Cocoa. Oh. That makes me sad.

Luckily I've found Lindt Dessert 70% Cocoa Specialty Cooking Chocolate because otherwise I would be distraught!

Back on topic, the friands were lovely. They were light and moist and the chocolate was a nice addition. I didn't really taste the cinnamon and while it didn't really matter as D doesn't like cinnamon, if I was to make them again I would definitely add more than 1/4 teaspoon. They were a lovely change to a flour based cake or cupcake.

Choc-chip Friands with Cinnamon and Almonds

from this recipe by Lynne Mullins on cuisine.com.au

Note: as I only had 4 egg whites on hand, I downsized the recipe. The recipe below shows the original measurements and not the ones I used.

6 egg whites

185g butter, melted

125g almond meal

240g icing sugar, sifted

75g plain flour

100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

25g chopped almonds

icing sugar, for dusting

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

Whisk egg whites lightly in a medium bowl and add butter, almond meal and icing sugar and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Add flour, chocolate and cinnamon and stir well to combine. Divide mixture evenly between 9 half-cup well-greased oval moulds. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and cooked.

Rest for 5 minutes then turn onto a cake rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Makes 9.

Now, if you are my mother reading this and you are wondering why I'm posting about baking and chocolate after we just had a discussion about healthy eating and recipes, these were originally made in June 2010.