florentines for harry
attempts in duplicating a beloved country bakery recipe
my friend harry approached me last week with a request - could i duplicate the florentine biscuits from his family’s favourite country bakery?
he brought down a batch for reference and i got to work
for some background, florentines are usually a thin, lacey biscuit of almonds, candied peel, and some dried fruit held together with caramel finished with a layer of dark chocolate
the goal florentines were hefty pucks, with a high ratio of caramel:nuts and only a few raisins on top
harry mentioned his family only ever eats them frozen, which gives them an incredible snap and pleasant sandy fudge-like texture to the caramel
revision one
for my first test batch, i started with about equal parts butter and brown sugar and a dash of cream to make a caramel, mixed in with the almonds, raisins and a spoon of flour to hold them together in the oven
these spread mightily in the oven, and formed massive, delicate biscuits with noticeable gaps
the raisins were also ruined in the oven, which made me question if they had been pressed on after baking
they were delicious, and definitely my favourite (stay tuned for florentines, my way) but not the goal!
revision two
my theory was i needed to increase the caramel:almond ratio and also increase the flour to help them hold together more in the oven
revision two were promising at the halfway mark in the oven but also ended up spreading massively and going much the way of revision one!
at this point, harry mentioned offhand that the goal florentines were gluten free which put an end to my flour theories
my partner, to his credit, asked if they might not be baked at all - what if instead they were made like fudge or hard toffee candies and just left to set
revision three
i made hard toffee candies
these started by boiling together sugar and water to 140°C (soft crack stage), before mixing in butter and triple the previous amounts of cream and cooking to 160°C (higher than planned, i got distracted!)
i quickly stirred through the almonds, spooned onto baking sheets and pressed on the raisins
these were much closer, especially once frozen solid!
they had the crisp snap and dense texture but perhaps tooo much caramel and not enough nuts - i’d overshot!
revision four - soon
my plan is to reduce the toffee amount, cook it to my original target temperature of 150°C, toast the slivered almonds beforehand, and hope for the best!
results
overall, i think i was able to get pretty close to the goal florentine
they’re dense and snappy with a single layer of almonds, chocolate and caramel
is this the recipe? only time will tell if the bakery ever gives up their secrets
recipe
yields 3-4 florentines
ingredients
30g slivered almonds
30g caster sugar
15g water
20g cream
6g butter
big pinch salt
7.5g raisins
25g dark chocolate
method
preheat the oven to 180°C
line a tray with baking paper
toast the slivered almonds (30g) then let cool
add the caster sugar (30g) and water (15mL) to a saucepan, swirling occasionally if required but try not to stir
cook over high heat until the mixture reaches soft crack stage (135°C)
pour in the cream (20g) and stir to combine
the mixture will bubble up but keep stirring
add in the butter (6g) and stir to combine
keep cooking over high heat until the mixture reaches hard crack stage (150°C)
immediately add the toasted slivered almonds and stir to coat
spoon the mixture into four dollops onto the lined baking tray
working quickly, flatten to form a single layer of almond pieces and press in the raisins (7.5g)
transfer to the freezer to cool
melt the dark chocolate (25g)
dip the bottoms of each cooled biscuit in chocolate and replace on the trays to freeze solid
stay tuned for florentines, my way