[kh99]

Try doing something like this: from that article on adding a tab, at the bottom of the plugin code is this:

$templater = vB_Template::create('custom_profile_tab_test');
$templater->register('selected_tab', $selected_tab);
$templater->register('test_tab_content', $test_tab_content);
$template_hook['profile_tabs'] .= $templater->render();

so I assume you have something similar for your custom template. Try adding (before the render() line):

$templater->register('friends', $blocks['friends']);

and then in your custom template:

{vb:raw friends}

BTW, this is kind of a guess from looking at the code in member.php - I haven't tried this at all.