Florentines

I was in the mood for crunch.









Not the savoury crunch of potato chips, or the virtuous crunch of healthy nuts, but something sweet and delicious that I could whip up in a hurry.

I've been thinking of making Florentines for a while now. Do you know those little biscuits- dried fruit and nuts, wavy chocolate patterned bottom, and usually popular around Christmas time? Yep, that's the one.

I've seen all types of these little babies, from fancy-pantsy artisan ones made with flaked nuts and expensive glace fruits baked into flat lacy discs, to big fat ones kinda like rock-cakes full of cornflakes and sultanas. I wanted a nice, family friendly, cheapish type version that was (of course) gluten and lactose free, so I fiddled around with a few and came up with my own version that I'm quite happy with, and they taste good too!

100grm Butter
1/2 cup Castor Sugar
1/2 cup Gluten free Flour
2/3 cup Flaked Almonds
2/3 cup Gluten free Cornflakes
2/3 cup Sultanas
2/3 cup Glace Cherries

Heat the butter and sugar together in a saucepan until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved.

Add in the flour and stir it through thoroughly.

Add in the nuts, fruits and cornflakes,

and mix it all together until they're all coated.

Traditionally the mix would be placed on greased trays with room for spreading, but to make them tidy you have to tidy them up after baking so they are a nice uniform shape. I decided to make it easy for myself by placing spoonfuls in well greased patty cases instead to see what would happen.

Bake for 12- 15 minutes at 180* until a nice light golden colour, they will still be really soft, then let them cool in the pans.

Now, the issue I had with this is that even though I greased the pans, the little suckers stuck fast. The butter and sugar mix caramelises beautifully when baked, giving the Florentines their lovely crunch. I had to stick the pans back in the warm oven for about a minute so they would soften down enough to be able to loosen them with a spoon. Bugger.

I tossed a bit of leftover mix into a silicon patty pan to see if that was a bit better, and they were great! I let them cool totally in the pans and when they were done they just popped right out no problem. That's the secret!

For presentation if you're just making a few, cooking them flat on the tray would definitely look the best, but for bulk lots (or OCD tidy types) this method in the silicon works like a dream- I'll leave the decision up to you, but I like tidy every time!


Traditionally these little biscuits have their bases dipped in chocolate and a wavy patten marked on. I did a few just to show you how pretty they look, but really they're plenty sweet without it.


Easy to make, easy to up-market by just swapping out fancier glace fruits and other nuts for the cornflakes, and way too easy to eat! I think Florentines are a great biscuit for something a bit different from the everyday. The only downside is they're probably a bit better suited to coffee than tea.

So Dear Readers, are you a coffee or tea type of person?

Gingerbread

Allergy free Gingerbread does not mean taste free gingerbread!

If you are an unbeliever, just give these little lovelies a try.


I really wish I could take credit for these biscuits, but they are actually from 'Chef's Toolbox'. That's a party plan style company selling kitchen stuff in your or your neighbours home.

I was interested to see what they had on offer, and found a really cute silicon gingerbread house mold. I thought it would be good to make a dairy free chocolate house in. I was giving it the once over when I saw the companies recommended recipe sheet. It didn't look too bad- it didn't include egg, which was interesting, and it would be easy enough to convert by just swapping out the flour and fats. Of course you can vary the spices as well, I added extra ginger to mine.

I thought I'd give it a try.

125g brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
300g treacle or golden syrup
1 tablespoon ground ginger
180g butter or I used Nuttlex
500g plain gluten free flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, salt, treacle, ginger and butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and mix until mixture forms a thick dough.

I admit to being sceptical. The dough was very, very soft. Perfect for squishing into the mold, but I wanted to make shaped cookies and cut outs with it as well. The secret was in the chilling.

As the dough is so soft it must be kept cold when rolling and shaping. Christmas for us Aussies is usually Hot. So I broke the process down like this:

1. make dough

2. chill dough

3. using small amount of dough, place on a thin sheet/board lined with baking paper. Place another sheet of baking paper on top, then roll out. Don't go to thin.

4. stick back in the fridge briefly

5. cut out shapes

5. again briefly chill- or freeze dough before transferring to a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

I know that this seems a lot of work, but it's not a lot more than normal really, just about 10 minutes or so.

Bake the shapes at * for 10-12 minutes, though this will vary depending on how thick your shapes are, and how big. My big thick ones took about 15 mins.

Let them cool on the pan. They will be get crisp as they cool.

They are a lovely tasty gingerbread that has a nice crisp bite to it. The dough also freezes well if you make too much, or you like to hoard a stash in the freezer for emergencies- or hungry moments.

I like to have some cookies "ready to go" cut or portioned out in the freezer, so if anyone says they're popping over I can get some in the oven before they arrive. This way I look so organised and domestic, that they are stunned and amazed (and jealous) by my awesomeness. I just smile a little, and let them think I just happened to be baking at the time. Please don't tell them my secret.

So dear Readers, do you have any secret tips for me? I promise I won't tell anyone, really....