Florentines

Overview

• PREP: 15 mins (Sable), 15 mins (Florentine mix), 10 mins (Chocolate)
• COOK:15 minutes (Sable), 20-25 minutes (Florentine mix)
• DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM
• SERVES: 16 generous squares

Background

These sweet, nutty, caramel squares are so delicious with their candied citrus peel and the dark chocolate that coats their underside.

1. Vanilla Pate Sable

• 313g Plain Flour
• 250g Butter
• 125g Icing Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 2.5 Medium Egg Yolks (42g)
• 5g Vanilla Extract

You will require a lined baking tray of approx. 26 cm x 36 cm
Allow your butter to sit out of the fridge for up to half an hour, just so it softens a little, before making the pastry. Sieve the icing sugar into the butter, and mix on the lowest speed with the paddle, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle intermittently, until it is smooth.
It is important to keep the speed slow, so that you do not incorporate air into the butter. This will result in your biscuits puffing, cracking, loosing shape, and being far too delicate and breakable.
Once the butter and sugar are completely smooth, you can add the flour and salt. Mix the dry ingredients in, only until what is in the bowl is uniformly combined. Make sure to scrape down the bowl and paddle again here, so that there won’t be any lumps of better left behind.
Next add the yolks and vanilla extract to the bowl. Keeping the paddle at a slow speed, and scraping down the sides and paddle as required, continue to mix just until everything comes together and is uniformly combined and smooth.
The dough is very soft, as a result of the high proportion of butter in it. This is part of what is going to make is so delicious when you get to taste it.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, or until cold and set hard.
Remove the Sable from the fridge and, between two pieces of parchment paper roll in to approx. 26 cm x 36 cm rectangle. Refrigerate for about half an hour, or until cold and hard.
Preheat the oven to 165 C.
Remove from the fridge and trim any excess pastry that is up the sides of the tray.
Place a piece of parchment on top of the pastry and cover with rice or baking beans.
Bake at 165 c for approx. 15 – 18 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove the parchment and beans and allow to cool.

2. Florentine Fruit and Nut Mix

• 52g Milk
• 79g Caster Sugar
• 22g Glucose
• 60g Honey
• 105g Unsalted Butter
• 2g Salt
• 110g Flaked Almonds
• 35g Shelled Pistachios
• 30g Hazelnuts Roughly Chopped
• 35g Diced Candied Peel

Turn the oven down to 160 C.

Place the milk, sugar, glucose and honey in a medium sized saucepan. Mix it well, and cook to 120 C.
Remove from the heat and add the utter and salt. Mix in until fully combined and then add the nuts and fruit. Pour the mixture over your sable, and spread evenly over the whole tray.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Turn the tray half way through baking. To check if the Florentines are cooked, remove the tray from the oven, and let the bubbles subside. The nuts should be golden brown without any undercooked areas.
Once cooked set the tray aside on a cooling rack until cooled completely.

3. Chocolate

When your Florentines are completely cool, place a sheet of parchment over a chopping board, that is at least the size of your tray of Florentines. Run a knife around the outside of the Florentines to loosen them in the tray. Invert them onto the parchment.
Melt 200g Dark Chocolate 55% – 65%, keeping it at or below 32 C.
Pour 80g of the chocolate over the sable and use a palette knife to spread it thinly over the entire surface, so that all of the pastry is covered. Use a chocolate comb or a fork to comb groves into the chocolate.
If some of the sable is visible through the chocolate, just add a little more, spread and comb again.
Set it aside at room temperature until the chocolate is fully set.
Use a serrated knife to trim, and portion your Florentines.

Enjoy!