Florentines

So this was a busy weekend treat-making wise.  As I said  at the end of my last entry, I had three things to make this weekend.  The first of these was Florentines, which were to be a birthday present.  The ones I ended up with were quite chewy and I had to do a number of researches to find that they can be a chewy biscuit.  I was convinced they should be crunchy but then I think most biscuits are crunchy.

I actually made two batches because I was not happy with the first lot (I wasn't that happy with the second lot either but the taste testers said they were delicious so I went with them).  Of course I wasn't sure what they were meant to be like but I also think I should not have tampered with the recipe.  A lot of my reading had revealed a lot of the recipes to use flour but the one I was using didn't.  So I added some in and probably shouldn't have.  We've also recently come to the conclusion that there is something wrong with the oven here because the cooking times are way off.  But I move tomorrow and have a brand new cooker to play with so hopefully that won't be a problem any more.

So, my second lot were marginally better.   They were still really sticky and flimsy though and I'm thinking that may be because the pieces of almond and cherry were too big.  I may also have put the butter/honey mix in a bit early rather than waiting for it to be completely cool.  The chocolate did help them stay together though and, as I said, the taste testers approved.

Recipe - makes about 10

Adapted from Cakebaker.co.uk

• 50g/2oz unsalted butter
• 3tbsp honey
• 50g/2oz ground almonds
• 50g/2oz candied peel
• 25g/1oz dried cranberries
• 25g/1oz glacé cherries
• 25g/1oz flaked almonds
• 100g/4oz dark chocolate

1. Put the butter and the honey into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.  Put aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. 
3. Chop up your flaked almonds a little so you have slightly smaller pieces then place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 3-5 minutes to toast them.  Leave to cool but don't turn off the oven.
4. Mix the ground almonds, candied peel, cranberries, cherries and toasted flaked almonds together in a bowl.  Add the cooled butter/honey mix and fold until will combined and the fillings are equally distributed.
5. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper and place teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto them.  Space them quite well apart since they will spread a little.  Flatten them slightly with the spoon.
6. Bake for about 8 minutes.  The biscuits are ready when they have spread a bit and turn slightly golden.
7. Cool on the tray for a bit if they are a little fragile then transfer to a wire rack.  (I had to transfer mine on the paper since they took a while to firm up).
8. Melt chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.  
9. Turn Florentines over and use a spoon to carefully cover the backs in chocolate.  Leave to set.

That's it for now.  There's two more recipes to come later today though.