Fruity Florentine biscuits are fun to make and a lovely alternative to everyday biscuits when you have visitors.
Florentines
Florentines are a type of very thin cookie with lacy edges.
Typically made with chopped nuts and dried fruits, they may be named after Florentine coins.
GBBO recipe inspiration
The second episode of #Great British Bake-Off with its theme of Biscuits is no doubt inspiring bakers and bloggers across the land to break out the biscuits and get baking again, like all the Swiss rolls and cherry cakes last week.
I thought the florentines looked great, and let’s face it I wasn’t going to construct a 3D scene made entirely of biscuits at home. 🙂
The only problem I had when I looked up Mary Berry’s recipe for florentines was that I don’t particularly like nuts.
So I thought I would use some more dried fruit and dessicated coconut in mine rather than chopped nuts, and make fruity coconut florentines.
“Sacrilege!” I hear you cry. Well luckily Mary hasn’t been round lately so fingers crossed she won’t find out.
With the recipe on hand and having watched the episode, the method itself didn’t seem that tricky.
No cutting off the lacy edges or not knowing how big a spoon to use here!
I imagine not having Paul and Mary in the room helped. I just had my six year old instead.
Ingredients
Adapted from Mary Berry’s Florentines
Get the quantities in the recipe card below.
- golden syrup
- demerara sugar
- butter
- plain flour
- glacé cherries, chopped
- mixed peel
- sultanas, chopped
- dessicated coconut
- dark chocolate
Method
Preheat your oven to 160°C fan or 180°C conventional oven.
I melted the syrup, sugar and butter together in a small pan over a gentle heat.
Next I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in the flour and fruit.
Finally I stirred in the dessicated coconut.
Next I put teaspoons of the mixture on three baking sheets lined with baking paper. I had to bake in two batches as I couldn’t fit them all in at once.
I watched like a hawk like last night’s GBBO bakers, and I found my florentines were ready between 9 and 10 minutes.
As you can see, they spread a lot during baking, so make sure you leave plenty of space between them.
The fruity coconut florentines were then left to cool while the second batch went in.
After a few minutes I transferred them to my new round cooling rack to cool completely.
Later I melted the chocolate and spread it on the base of half of the biscuits, and made the zig zag pattern with a fork when nearly set.
They are great with a cup of tea and a lovely type of biscuit to make when you have visitors over.
Recipe
Fruity Coconut Florentines
Ingredients
- 50 g (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) golden syrup
- 50 g (¼ cups) demerara sugar
- 50 g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter
- 50 g (¼ cups + 1 tbsp) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 4 glacé cherries chopped
- 50 g (¼ cups + 1 tbsp) mixed peel
- 25 g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) sultanas chopped
- 25 g (¼ cups + 2 tbsp) dessicated coconut
- 50 g (¼ cups) dark chocolate
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 fan or 180 conventional oven.
- Melt the syrup, sugar and butter together in a small pan over a gentle heat.50 g golden syrup, 50 g demerara sugar, 50 g butter
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour and fruit.50 g plain flour (all-purpose flour), 4 glacé cherries, 50 g mixed peel, 25 g sultanas
- Finally stir in the dessicated coconut.25 g dessicated coconut
- Put 6 teaspoons of the mixture each on three baking sheets lined with baking paper. You may need to bake in two batches depending on the room in your oven.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.
- Leave the florentines to cool, if needed, put the second batch in now, for another 9-10 minutes.
- Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate and spread it on the base of half of the biscuits, and make the zig zag pattern with a fork when nearly set.50 g dark chocolate
Emily @amummytoo says
They look great! I love florentines but have yet to try making my own. Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. Sorry I was particularly slow getting over for this one. I’ve pinned it to my food board and a tweet will go out shortly 🙂
Stacey Guilliatt says
Never tried them with coconut, bet they’re yummy though #greatbloggersbakeoff2014
Debra Ceka (my little kitchen) says
Your Florentines look gorgeous. I don’t like nuts either so these would be perfect for me!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Debra, we really enjoyed them!
The Beesley Buzz says
Wow – i LOVE the idea of adding the coconut in! I can imagine they taste great with coconut. x
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks, they were very chewy and tasty with the coconut!
Jenny Paulin says
you make making florentines so easy! i am going to have to give them a go because i like eating them so much!
yours look lovely – i can see the lacey effect too! adding coconut added a lovely flavour with the chocolate i would imagine
thank you for linking up x x
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks for visiting Jenny!
Hayley @ Hay In A Day says
I’ve actually never had a florentine! But after seeing them on the bake off and then seeing your post I really want one! #bakeoftheweek
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Hayley!
bluebirdsunshine says
I love anything involving coconut, bet these were delicious! Your zig zagging looks brilliant too, well done.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks, I wasn’t quite sure what it was supposed to look like as I missed that part of the show, but Google came to the rescue!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
I LOVE florentines! They have to be my favourite biscuit! Yours look and sounds absolutely scrummy 🙂 thank you for sharing and linking up with #BakeoftheWeek x