Here’s a slight anomaly. Although I have always known these cookies as Florentines, there doesn’t seem to be an equivalent in Italian for the name.
They are certainly not called Fiorentine, which would have made sense. They are also, strictly speaking, not biscotti, as that word relates to biscuits that are cooked twice. I’ve swapped the traditional glacé cherries for ginger, as I like the mildly spicy result.
Makes: about 18
Ingredients
- 75g hazelnuts
- 75g flaked almonds
- 75g glacé ginger
- 30g butter, plus a knob for greasing
- 50g caster sugar
- 50g golden syrup
- 50g plain flour
- 20g double cream
- 200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa
Method
- Roughly chop the hazelnuts and almond flakes or bash them in a pestle and mortar. Chop the glacé ginger. Set aside.
- Grease three baking sheets with the knob of butter and line with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat slowly until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and stir in the flour, nuts, glacé ginger and double cream with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
- Using a dessertspoon, place heaped dollops of the mixture on the three baking sheets, leaving space between them to spread, 6 dollops per tray. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof Pyrex bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. When the chocolate has melted, shut off the heat, dip each Florentine into the melted chocolate to coat half only, generously. Don’t worry about being neat and precise – mine never are, I prefer the wonky presentation with differing chocolate levels and shapes. Return the dipped Florentines to the greaseproof paper until fully hardened. You may want to put them into the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process, but eat them at room temperature.
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