Chocolate & Raspberry Friands

Having recently discovered friands and made some with lemons and blueberries, which were very well received, I decided to try a variation on the recipe to include chocolate.  Thus I came u p with Chocolate and Raspberry Friands.

Heavy on almonds, these lovely cakes taste great, with the chocolate flavour and the hit of sharpness that raspberries give.

Friands are usually oval in shape, made in a special tin,  but they can equally well be baked in a muffin tin so it isn’t necessary to spend money on a special tin.  In fact they are not that easy to find, so muffin tins works very well.

My little experiment with the flavors worked very well indeed, so I am extremely pleased with the results.

Do try this recipe, I am sure that you won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:

• 185g melted and cooled butter
• 225g icing sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 20g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 6 medium(USA large) egg whites
• 200g raspberries(fresh or frozen is fine)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F.
2. Grease a twelve hole friand or uffin pan.
3. Sift the icing sugar, cocoa powder and the flour into a large bowl.
4. Add the ground almonds and stir in to combine.
5. Whisk the egg whites until they are light and frothy but have not reached soft peaks.
6. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg whites. 
7. Mix until combined into a batter.
8. Pour the melted butter over the top, then mix it in until it it fully combined.
9. Divide half of the mixture equally into the 12 cups of the pan.
10. Drop2 or 3 raspberries to each cup.
11. Divide the remaining batter over the raspberries.
12. Drop 2 more raspberries onto the top of the batter.
13. Bake in the oven for 20 to 22 minutes until the friands are springy when the tops are pressed.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.