Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 C
- Grease a 9-hole, ½ cup capacity friand tin or pan
- Place egg whites in a bowl and lightly whisk with a fork.
- In a separate bowl, sift powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and flour into a bowl. Stir to combine.
- Add the egg whites, butter, and vanilla extract to the flour mixture. Stir until well combined.
- Pour or spoon mixture into preferred pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until a a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar.
Friands with Chocolate Chips is a chocolate take on friands, the small oval cakes that originated in France and became especially popular in Australia, traditionally leaning on almond meal but reworked here into a rich, cocoa-forward version instead. Whipped egg whites folded into melted butter and a sifted mix of cocoa, flour, and powdered sugar give these a light, tender crumb, closer to a delicate little cake than a dense muffin, even though the two often get mistaken for each other.
Using powdered sugar rather than granulated helps the batter come together smooth, and the cocoa powder gives these a deep chocolate flavor throughout the crumb itself before the chocolate chips even come into play, so they’re rich rather than just sweet. Folded in near the end, the chocolate chips melt slightly during the short bake, leaving little pockets of gooey chocolate scattered through each cake. Baking is quick, just long enough for the centers to set without drying out the edges, and a dusting of powdered sugar on top once they’ve cooled adds a light sweetness and a nice visual finish. The result is a small, tender chocolate cake with a soft crumb and melty chocolate throughout, an easy afternoon treat that’s a little more refined than a standard muffin without requiring much extra effort.
