Florentines

When we were kids, my mom and dad always made Christmas magical. On Christmas Eve we would go and see family and when we arrived back home, gifts were scattered all over the house. Even the milk and cookies we put out were demolished. It blew our minds! It was only in my tweens, I discovered a huge pink teddy hidden in my dad's cupboard, I realised my parents were "Santa''. Nonetheless, they continued with the tradition for our younger brother and sister. Christmas has always been a special time for me, I couldn't care less about the gifts but more about the effort my parents put in to make it special for us. So with that in mind, I give you an easy recipe for Florentines, because one has to have fruit and nuts during the festive season. And chocolate of course. "Santa" will surely love these festive treats with a cold glass of milk. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. See you in 2017! xx

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Course Snack

Servings

Ingredients

125 g butter
140 g (175 ml) brown sugar
45 ml (3 T) honey
125 ml (1/2 c) cake flour
a good pinch of salt
100 g mixed nuts roughly chopped
100 g raw almonds roughly chopped
100 g dried cranberries
50 g cashew nuts roughly chopped
50 g glace cherries roughly chopped
150 g dark chocolate broken into blocks

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160 Degrees Celsius.
Melt the butter, sugar and honey together in a small heavy-based pot ( I used AMC Cookware's 16 cm Gourmet High saucepan), once the sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, salt, nuts and fruit. Mix until well combined.
Place a tablespoonful of the mixture on a large or 2 medium baking trays lined with baking paper. Leave room in between for spreading. You should get 14 spoonfuls. Flatten them.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and while hot, push in the edges to form even circles. I use a round cookie cutter to help shape them.
Allow to cool until cold to the touch.
Place the chocolate in a medium stainless steel or glass bowl that fits snug over a medium pot filled half way with water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the base of the bowl. Melt over low heat until chocolate is smooth and glossy.
Spread onto the bases or bottoms of the florentines and allow to cool until chocolate sets.
You may need to pop them in the fridge for a bit as we are in the peak of summer!
Store in an airtight container.