Salted caramel and milk chocolate Florentines
I’ll be honest I’d never actually heard of Florentines before Bake Off. They always sounded a bit posh! Turns out they’re really simple to make and absolutely delicious. They also make great gifts (especially at Christmas time).
I like to use a cupcake/muffin tray to make mine as it gives them a uniform shape. If you don’t have one, just spoon the mixture onto a lined baking tray using two teaspoons. They will spread out by themselves and you’ll end up with a more rustic but equally delicious Florentine.
Ingredients
100g flaked almonds
75g pecans, finely chopped
55g peel (i like lemon and orange mixed peel but you can use any)
75g flame raisins, chopped
20g plain flour
45g unsalted butter
75g light brown soft sugar
55g golden syrup
1 tsp fine sea salt
200g good quality milk chocolate
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4
Mix together the flaked almonds, chopped pecans, candied peel, raisins and flour in a bowl and set aside for later
Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pan and cook on a low–medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until the butter and sugar have melted and the mixture has thickened to a syrupy caramel
Remove the mixture from the heat, then add the salt and dry ingredients. Stir well to incorporate until everything is evenly distributed (you shouldn’t be able to see any streaks of flour)
Add a tsp of the mixture to each cupcake hole. You don’t need to grease it beforehand.
Bake the florentines for 12 minutes exactly. They should be golden brown in colour.
While baking, heat the milk chocolate in the microwave in 20 second blasts until it’s just melted.
Working quickly, dip the base of each florentine into the milk chocolate to coat, then place it on a wire rack, with the chocolate side facing upwards
Leave them to set before serving and enjoy!
