Espresso and Hazelnut Friands

We arrived back home from a holiday in sunny Malaysia to freezing conditions... and a mountain of laundry. In KL ('cause that's what the cool kids call Kuala Lumpur), we breakfasted on the most delicious freshly made roti with bowls of dahl for dunking and large glasses of icy kopi tarik (iced coffee) in 35C heat.  The evening we arrived back in Melbourne, it was -4C!!!  One day we were sipping cold drinks in the sun, the next we were cupping hot mugs of coffee in our hands to keep warm.  Not that I'm complaining, I love breakfast no matter where I'm eating it.

Below are a few holiday snaps I took if you're interested (there are more on my IG page).  Otherwise, just scroll to the bottom for the recipe.

Espresso and Hazelnut Friands

slightly adapted from here

Makes 9

50g cacao powder

2 tablespoons cornflour

50g golden caster sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

230g ground hazelnuts

40g dark chocolate, chopped

100ml olive oil

125g honey

80ml brewed espresso

5 egg whites

Hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease nine 110ml-capacity friand tins and line them with a strip of baking paper.  Set aside.

Sift the cacao powder, cournflour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Add the ground hazelnuts and half of the chocolate.  Stir to combine and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the oil and honey and place over low heat until the honey is runny. Remove from the heat and add the espresso.  Set aside.

In a bowl, use a balloon whisk to whip the egg whites until frothy.  

Add the oil mixture and egg whites to the cacao mixture.  Gently fold to combine.  Spoon the batter into the prepared tins and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts and remaining chocolate.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave to cool in tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.