Sharing one from the archive today for those looking to whip up some homemade gifts this Christmas.
I’ve made these so much over the past year, for family, friends and neighbours. Florentines do a really good job of being that little bit of chewy, comforting indulgence, and we’ve certainly needed jars of that recently.
When someone’s made you florentines, they’ve gone to that extra bit of effort – they want to treat you to something that doesn’t often frequent your biscuit tin.
They’re great gifts all year round, but the glistening jewels of cherries and candied peel make them perfect for Christmas!
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 50g golden syrup
- 50g Demerara sugar
- 50g of plain flour
- 30g glacé cherries, finally chopped
- 50g flaked almonds, finally chopped
- 60g mixed cut or candied peel
- 250g good quality dark chocolate
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
- Add the butter, sugar and syrup to a small saucepan and heat until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and add the flour, candied peel, cherries and almonds to the pan and stir.
- Place heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking parchment, leaving plenty of room (2.5cm) for them to spread when cooking.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before lifting onto a cooling rack.
- Once the florentines are completely cool, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Spread each florentine with a generous coating of the chocolate and leave to set.
Pop them into a jar if you’re giving them as a present. They can be kept up to two weeks in the sealed jar, if they manage to last that long!
These just look so good. I’ve never actually made florentines myself, but it sounds like something I could master, haha!