Hands down, they’re my favourite kind of biscuit, which begs the question…why do I only make them at Christmas?! I like to make one batch for the family and one to give as gifts, wrapped in a brown paper bag and tied with ribbon.
I have experimented with a mixture of different nuts, but I personally prefer almonds, either flaked or blanched whole almonds (or ideally a mixture of both). If you like candid peel, you can replace the sour cherries with this).
Ingredients
- 25g butter
- 70g golden caster sugar
- 15g plain flour
- 4 tbsp double cream
- 100g flaked almonds
- 50g blanched whole almonds
- 50g sour cherries, chopped
- 50g dark chocolate
- 50g milk chocolate
- 50g white chocolate
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.
- Lightly grease 2 large baking trays and dust with flour, shaking to remove any excess.
- Put the butter, sugar and flour in a pan and heat gently until the mixture has melted. Add the cream, stirring continuously.
- Once combined, add the nuts and cherries.
- Place small teaspoonfuls onto the baking trays well apart to allow for spreading and flatten with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
- Leave on the baking trays for 2-3 minutes to harden slightly and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Melt each of the three types of chocolate in separate bowls over simmering water, or in a microwave.
- Using a teaspoon, spread the base of the florentines in chocolate and place with the base facing upwards on the cooling rack.
- As the chocolate starts to firm up, run across the base of the florentines with a fork to make a zigzag pattern.
