It’s taken me a while to come round to aquafaba, the liquid leftover in a tin of chickpeas, as an egg replacement. I was convinced that everything I made with it would have the faint taste of pulses, but I was wrong! Now I appreciate how useful an ingredient it can be when baking for those who don’t eat eggs. Here, the aquafaba gets whipped until frothy and is then mixed into an almondy batter, producing sweet little cakes with a chewy exterior and soft, syrup-laden insides.
Vegan orange friands
Prep 20 min
Cook 25 min
Makes 6
70g vegan butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
40g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
90g ground almonds
½ tsp baking powder
100g icing sugar
A pinch of salt
Zest of 1 orange
About 100ml aquafaba, drained from 1 x 400g can chickpeas
A handful of flaked almonds
For the syrup
Zest and juice of 1 orange
2 ½ tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Brush the insides of a cupcake or friand tray with melted butter, then dust lightly with flour.
In a bowl, mix the flour, almonds, baking powder, icing sugar and salt.
In another bowl, whip the aquafaba by hand for two to three minutes, until it’s frothy. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the orange zest and 70g melted butter, and stir until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared moulds and top each one with a scattering of flaked almonds. Bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the tray around halfway, until the cakes are lightly browned and springy to touch.
While the friands are baking, make the syrup. Use a potato peeler to pare long strips of zest off the orange, then slice them up thinly and put in a pan with the sugar, the juice from the orange and the orange blossom water, if using. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for a few minutes, until the mix is syrupy and the zest has softened.
Spoon some syrup on to the baked friands while they are still warm, then leave to cool completely before serving.
