I know, I know, I can’t remember the last time I posted a recipe for something sweet and a little naughty. We all have to be naughty sometimes don’t we? And these bite sized Florentines really hit the spot and are a perfect gift to take along when you go visiting.
I made these recently when we went for lunch with a pal to my parents. We’re not really a family of dessert eaters generally, but a little treat like this with a cup of strong coffee after a perfect lunch is a great way to round things off. And I know my mum has a soft spot for these little almond and chocolate biscuits so that was a good enough reason for me to have a go at making them.
They’re not all that difficult to make, you just have to keep an eye on them at each stage so that you don’t end up with burnt nuts (and nobody wants burnt nuts do they?!). Set aside a couple of hours and put a pot of your favourite coffee on to brew and you’ll enjoy a wonderful, creative afternoon making these sweet treats.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 3 tsp flour
- 100ml double cream
- 50g/2oz flaked almonds toasted
- 20g chopped hazlenuts
- 100g/4oz dried sour cranberries and glace cherries finely chopped
- 150g/5oz good quality dark chocolate broken into pieces (I did a few with white chocolate too)
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Heat the butter, syrup and flour in a pan over a medium heat, stirring continuously, until the butter has melted
- Gradually add the cream, stirring continuously until well combined.
- Add the nuts and fruit and mix well until combined.
- Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper and place teaspoonfuls of the florentine mixture onto it. Space the teaspoonfuls out at 2.5cm/1in intervals so they don’t merge together when heated.
- Transfer the florentines to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden-brown. Keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t burn.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on the tray, then transfer the florentines to a cooling rack. Be patient here, they need to be cool otherwise they will break easily when still warm and soft.
- Bring a little water to a simmer in a pan. Suspend a heatproof bowl over the water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Add the chocolate pieces and stir until smooth and melted.
- Turn the florentines so that the flat base is facing upwards. Spread the melted chocolate over the florentine bases and set aside to cool and set. I used a pastry brush to do this.
Although keeping them in the fridge will cause the chocolate to lose its shine, I found that the warmth of my kitchen caused them to soften so I kept them cool. This crisped them up and they tasted great!
Inspired by a BBC Recipe
Chica Andaluza 
Oh myyyyyy!!! Que buena pinta!!! Me encanta!!! You should go have breakfast before you start eating your computer screen! 😉
Having pan con tomate y aceite con un cafelito solo right now 😉
mmmm….riquisisimo!!! have a wonderful day ahead! 😘
Ooo – what a winner of a recipe Tanya! These little morsels are clearly very addictive and so pretty too!
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
They turned out quite well for a first attempt!
Oh my… I love florentines, but have never made them myself. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe Tanya, I’ll be making these for sure. 🙂
It was the first time for me – but not the last!
Oh yummy! Just yummy! Will be making these very soon 🙂
Do give them a go – it’s really worth the effort!
Those look like a big hit – I could eat one now with my cup of tea 🙂
If there had been any left….I’d have sent you one 😉
Thanks, though I bet there’s no danger of any being left 😉
No danger at all L
I love Florentines! Bought the stuff to make the at Christmas, but still have not made them. They look so good. Soon, soon.
Oh you really should give them a go when you have time!
+1 it’s good to mix things up. I’m such a big fan of Florentines too. Good work!
Thanks Frugal – it was a first for me!
Sweet and naughty sounds good – these look amazing. I wish I could have one with my cup of tea right now!
Sweet and naughty was definitely good!
I rarely make anything sweet. Those are impressive!
Me neither, but sometimes I just get a wild urge to become a pastry chef!
These look heavenly. I’ve noticed two camps in the cooking world, bakers and savory meal makers. I do think it’s cool to be able to go back and forth between the two, which I’m trying to do. I”m not much of a baker and I try not to keep sweets in the house, but every once in a while, it’s cool to try your hand at it. Yours came out lovely. How could anything with nuts, and butter come out badly?!
I agree – and I’m definitely a savoury meal maker with a hint of baker (but only every so often)!
OK I’ll be the one who says Nuts – ooo err mrs 🙂
Someone had to …. 😉
Oh you temptress! What scrumptious little victuals these are! I especially love that you resisted using the usual dark chocolate on them and went with white. The result is both pretty and less rich and you could fit more of them into your mouth hamster style before you had to stop…I reckon…going on the look of them…I could get…maybe…erm…5 of them into my mouth before choking on flaked almonds but WHAT A WAY TO GO! 🙂 I fear (stupid) Stevie-boy is not a fan of nuts…and I am (how shall I say this without revealing how alarmingly rotund my derriere has become over the last few months…) “abstaining from unnecessaries” (I think I pulled that off nicely…”necessaries” being anything that fits into my mouth with the calorie quotient of cabbage…sigh…) but I can dream…(emmm scrumptious florentines…move on over Mr Pitt, Mr Depp and especially you Mr Junior, I no longer need to avail myself of your sumptuousness…there is a new kid on the block!)
I like the idea of being a temptress! Yes, I think you could get 5 into your mouth at once but you probably wouldn’t be able to chew so would have to wait patiently for the chocolate to dissolve to give room for manoeuvre 😉 And I think abstaining from unnecessaries is potentially dangerous for your health – we all need to be a little unnecessary from time to time!
My problem is that I take the unnecessaries and I turn them into necessaries and I have a very…BIG…appetite with very little desire to listen to that little willpower voice…I keep pretending that I don’t understand it as I stuff delicious things into my gaping maw…”sorry? No speaka da eengleesh…non comprende…nom…nom… eh?” 😉
White chocolate florentines sound so good!
I have a bit of a soft spot for white chocolate!
Yummy, I’m also more a savoury food person, but these florentines look so tempting! 🙂
I liekd them because they were small! (Leaving space for more cheese!)
I agree, sometimes we just have to be naughty! And with the weekend here, a plate full of these delicious golden brown goodies with a hot cuppa Chai sounds just perfect:) Love the recipe!
Thanks Peri J
Wow a recipe fabulous food , I feel good so I want to try to taste
If we make for breakfast if the food is good for health ..?
Served with a glass of milk will also be very tasty .
eum….
look so yummy
wah seems sweet and delicious 🙂
very nice recipe, maybe i will try this at home..
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