Michelle Darmody: How to make Mother’s Day florentines
Mother’s Day was originally called mothering day; it was when servants of the wealthy were given leave from their all-consuming jobs to visit their families.
What nicer way to celebrate the mother figure in your family than to bake and share food with them. Particularly food that was first created to honour a queen.
Florentines are said to have originated in France, rather than Italy, but were made in honour of a Florentine queen who was a member of the D e' Medici family.
A gift of florentines is an opportunity to acknowledge motherhood in all its complicated glory, the hard work, care and unending love that most mothers impart.
You can make these florentines a few days in advance of Mother’s Day and wrap, or box them up as a gift.
The little biscuits are usually made quite flat on a baking tray. I prefer the below method of using a bun tin if I am presenting them as a gift because they form neat, even-sized biscuits that look good when tied with a ribbon.
The butter, sugar and flour mixture that you create binds the almonds and sultanas or whichever other ingredients you are using. The recipe is very versatile but it is good to keep these ingredients in ratio so they form the glue.
Mother’s Day florentines
Florentines are said to have originated in France, rather than Italy, but were made in honour of a Florentine queen who was a member of the Medici family.
Servings
12Preparation Time
30 minsCooking Time
20 minsTotal Time
50 minsCourse
DessertIngredients
60g light muscovado sugar
40g soft butter
20g plain flour
15ml cream
180g slivered almonds
40g sultanas
120g milk chocolate, broken into even pieces
120g dark chocolate, broken into even pieces
Method
Grease two 12-hole bun tins, ensure to grease the tins well. Set them aside in a cool place.
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.
Place the sugar and butter into a saucepan over a low heat until melted and combined.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour.
Stir in the cream, slivered almonds and sultanas.
Spoon the mixture between the holes in one of the bun tins and flatten each spoonful.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden.
Once cool enough to handle, gently remove the biscuits from the tin with the tip of a butter knife.
Place them onto a wire rack to cool.
When the florentines have cooled completely, melt all of the chocolate together.
Spoon the chocolate into each hole in the second bun tin, swirling it slightly to coat the base.
Place a cooled florentine on top of each disc of chocolate and press it down slightly.
Allow the chocolate firm up in a cool place.
Once the chocolate is completely firm again, remove them from the tin with the tip of a butter knife.
You can add little discs of parchment to the base of the holes in your bun tin before adding the florentine mixture if you wish, or you can use paper bun cases. This is particularly good if you have an old tin that tends to stick; it will allow you to take the florentines out with more ease.
You can toast the slivered almonds before stirring them into the recipe for some added flavour. It releases the oils and brings out the nuttiness.
Do not let the butter and sugar mixture bubble or overheat because it will begin to caramelise and harden, or worse, burn and add a bitter taste to the end result. It may also leave a gritty texture if it is overcooked because the butter and sugar begin to separate.
You can add some desiccated coconut in place of the slivered almonds. It adds a nice flavour and works well to help bind the other ingredients together. You can also use white chocolate in place of the two types of chocolate in the recipe.
It is best to keep an eye on the florentines as they bake as they can become over-baked quite quickly. They should be a light golden and evenly coloured all over.
You can also make these on a baking tray and dip them into melted chocolate instead of using the bun tins. It will give a lacier, less evenly sized version. Leave plenty of space between each of the biscuits on the baking tray as they will spread as they bake.
The florentines will keep in an airtight container for two weeks in a cool place.
The chewiness of the apricot is nice with the green crunch of the pistachio nuts. Use 40g of chopped, dried apricots in place of the sultanas. Then substitute 50g of the slivered almonds with roughly chopped unsalted, shelled pistachios. I prefer a darker chocolate with these particular flavours and use 240g of dark chocolate.
This one for real cherry lovers. I use a mix of chopped glacé cherries which give a lovely, bright jewel-like finish and also add 50g of dried cherries. The dried cherries are more soure than the glacé version and provide a nice contrast.
Replace the sultanas with the zest of two oranges and 50g of thinly sliced stem ginger. Add 30g of chopped walnuts in place of the same weight of the slivered almonds.
