Latinlaceflorentines Recipes

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.
• Finely chop the dried fruit or peel.
• Place a small saucepan over a low heat and add the sugar, butter and flour, stirring to combine. Keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then gradually add the crème fraîche.
• Take off the heat and stir in the flaked almonds, seeds and dried fruit or peel.
• While it's still warm, use teaspoons to drop little mounds of mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving a few centimetres between each one to allow them room to spread.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. Leave to cool a little on the sheet before cooling on a rack.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, then, using a spoon, drizzle it over the florentines.
• Let the chocolate set completely, before transferring the biscuits to boxes, or wrapping in greaseproof paper and ribbons.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the almonds, flour and zest in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the almond mixture. Cool the batter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart (the cookies will spread). Flatten the batter slightly with your finger.
• Bake the cookies until they are lacy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a rack and cool completely. Transfer the cookies to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, lining the baking sheets with clean parchment for each batch. (The cookies can be made up to this point 2 months ahead. Cool completely, then store airtight in the freezer. Defrost before continuing.)
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets with shortening and dust with flour.
• Stir cream and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in orange peel, flour, and almonds until combined. Drop batter in teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, keeping each cookie well apart from each other.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
• Spread bottoms of cooled cookies with melted chocolate using a spatula, or spear cookies on a fork and dip bottoms into chocolate. Let dry, bottoms-up, on waxed paper.