Amanda Laird: Dark chocolate and pear friands

Dark chocolate and pear friands. Photo / Babiche Martens

Makes 12

150g butter, melted
1 cup ground almonds
4 egg whites, lightly whisked
1 cup icing sugar
½ cup plain flour
80g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 pears halved, cored and finely chopped - plus an extra half to finely slice

1 Preheat oven to 180C. Grease gem trays or muffin pans.

2 Using a large bowl, tip in the butter, almonds, egg whites, icing sugar and flour, then stir until just combined.

3 Stir through the chocolate and the pears, reserving the extra half to put on the top.

4 Spoon into the trays and bake for 10 minutes then top with slices of pear and continue cooking for a further 10-15 minutes.