Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

I’ve often thought about making my own Florentines but usually just end up buying readymade ones. Anyway, I’ve taught myself to make them in a foolproof way now so do try them out as I think this recipe works really well. The nice thing about making your own is that you get to choose your favourite toppings and they are actually quite easy to create. I took a batch as a gift to have with our friends over lunch at the weekend and they went down pretty well. Just be sure to leave plenty of time if you want take them away as the chocolate needs to harden so you can handle them and put them in a storage tin. They taste delicious on their own or with a nice cup of coffee.

Ingredients

• 45g butter
• 60g demerara sugar
• 60g chopped candied peel
• 45g dried cranberries or sour cherries, roughly chopped
• 45g glace cherries
• 20g pistachio kernels, roughly chopped
• 60g flaked almonds
• 15g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp double cream
• 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

To make…

• Heat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with lightly buttered parchment paper.
• Gently melt the butter and sugar together in a non-stick pan over a medium heat.
• Measure out and prep all the fruit and nuts and mix them together in a small bowl. Sift over the flour and mix into the fruit and nuts until they are all thoroughly coated.
• Take the pan of melted butter and sugar over the heat and then stir in the cream and salt. Then stir in the fruit and nuts.
• Drop dollops of roughly a dessertspoon of the mixture onto the trays. It makes about 14. Flatten them with the back of a spoon as much as possible without leaving holes. Ensure that they are well spread out on the trays so they don’t merge into one another during the bake.
• Bake them for roughly 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Keep a watchful eye on them and be sure to set a timer so that they don’t burn. I set mine for 10 m minutes and that was perfect but everyone’s oven is different.
• Remove from the oven once they are done and leave to cool on the trays. If the edges have run a little you can gently push them in with the back of a teaspoon while they are still soft. They will set as they cool.
• Once they are cool, melt the chocolate by breaking it up into small pieces and place it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Be careful not to allow the water to touch the bowl. Stir until melted.
• Carefully lift each Florentine off the baking paper and either dip the underside into the chocolate or add a teaspoon full and then spread it round to the edges with the back of the spoon. Leave chocolate side up to cool and set. You can use a fork to leave a wavy pattern in the setting chocolate. Leave to harden completely before serving or storing in an air-tight tin.

• Share, follow, like, enjoy!
• To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website. 
• Follow me on Twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen, and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
• Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?
• Book your one to one cookery coaching session here!