Florentines are a delicious treat to serve with coffee after dinner.
Actually they’re delicious any time of day. I swear they talk to me from the tin, sending out “Eat me” messages. They’re quite big, so if it makes you feel better cut them in half, or make smaller ones. But you’ve seen Florentines in cake shops – they’re always big!
Use any combination of dried fruit and nuts you have on hand. I used some dried sour cherries from Costco and craisins (dried cranberries). I left out the candied peel because I’m the only one in our family who likes it.
Woolworths sell non-stick egg rings in two packs for about two dollars, so I bought five packs. I could have made the Florentines slightly thinner and got 12 from the recipe, but I had only bought 10 egg rings, so that was that! If preferred make them free-form by placing heaped tablespoonsful onto the paper – they will spread as they cook.
½ cup cream
½ cup sugar
1 Tbs honey
½ cup dried cherries (glacé or sour cherries)
½ cup dried fruit (I used cranberries)
½ cup candied peel (or more dried fruit)
1 cup flaked or slivered almonds (I used almonds & cashews)
½ cup flour
100g dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp vegetable oil, coconut oil or Copha
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick paper and arrange the egg rings on top. In a medium sized saucepan heat cream, sugar and honey till boiling. Remove from the heat and add fruit, nuts and flour. Cool for a few minutes so it thickens up.
Divide among the rings spreading evenly then bake for 10-15 mins or until light caramel coloured. Don’t overcook as the fruit easily burns. Leave to cool on the tray.
Melt chocolate and oil or Copha in microwave or in a bowl over boiling water. Dip each Florentine into chocolate on the flat side, shake off excess then cool on non-stick paper, chocolate side up. If you’re in a hurry stick them in the fridge or freezer. And if you have any chocolate left, drizzle a bit on the bumpy side, but let the chocolate set on the first side before you do this. They actually look better on the drizzly/bumpy side.
Makes 10-12
