RECIPE: FLORENTINES

MARY BERRY'S FLORENTINES

PREP TIME: 30MIN | BAKE TIME: 10MIN

I'd been craving these classic biscuits since they appeared on this season's Great British Bake Off {love that show!}. They are pretty straight forward to make and very delicious. So delicious that I'm making another batch tomorrow. 

You will need: kitchen scales & three trays {but you can make do with 2}, + a thermometer {but you can make do without one}

INGREDIENTS

50g unsalted butter

50g demerara sugar

50g golden syrup

50g plain flour

50g candied peel, finely chopped

25g dried cranberries or glacé cherries, finely chopped

25g almonds, finely chopped

25g walnut pieces, finely chopped

200g dark chocolate

OVEN 180C/350F/GAS 4

1. Line three baking trays with baking paper.

2. Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a pan and heat up slowly - until the butter's melted.

3. Remove from heat and add flour, chopped cranberries/cherries, candied peel and nuts to the pan. Mix together.

4. Make 18 florentines by spooning the mixture onto the trays - 6 on each. Leave enough space between them - they will spread while baking.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. They will be soft as they come out of the oven, so let them cool a little before transferring them on a wired rack.

6. Break up the chocolate and melt half of it in a heatproof bowl set over a pan with simmering water. The bowl can't be touching the water. Stir around until the chocolate reaches the melting point of 53°C.

7. Remove from heat and stir in the second half of the chocolate - keep stirring until it melts.

8. Spread over the biscuits and let cool for a few minutes before making the zig zag pattern with a fork. Leave to cool.

9. Store in an airtight container - the biscuits will keep fresh for about a week.

That's it! Florentines have very quickly become one of my favourite bakes and I bet they will become yours too. The dried cranberries and nuts are lovely flavours for autumn and you shouldn't have a problem finding the ingredients in any supermarket. Let me know if you try these at home!