Cherry Orange Florentines

Amazingly good! These are hard to make, but worth the effort.

60 minutes to prepare, One and a half hour to bake

Makes 12 servings (36 cookies)

"A Baker's Guide to Christmas Cookies" by Dede Wilson

Contributor!Wilson, Dede Desserts!Cherry Orange Florentines Christmas Cookies!Cherry Orange Florentines Candy!Cherry Orange Florentines Cookies!Cherry Orange Florentines Almonds!Cherry Orange Florentines Cherry!Cherry Orange Florentines Chocolate!Cherry Orange Florentines Orange Peel!Cherry Orange Florentines Honey!Cherry Orange Florentines

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoon (3/4 stick) unsalted Butter
• 2/3 cup Sugar granulated
• 1/3 cup Cream heavy
• 3 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 cup Almonds sliced, and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup Cherries dried, and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup Candied Orange Peel finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Flour all purpose
• 6 ounces Semi-sweet or Bitter-sweet Chocolate finely chopped

Directions

It is crucial that the almonds, cherries, and orange peel be chopped finely (1/8 in. or less), and evenly.

Place butter, sugar, heavy cream and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat until mixture is at a low boil and cook to 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer. If you dip a spoon into the mixture and dribble it into a glass of cold water, it will spin a thread.

Stir the almonds, cherries, candied orange peel, and flour into the caramel mixture until evenly mixed. Scrape into a greased bowl, and allow to cool.

There is no substitute for the parchment paper in this recipe, and it is essential!

Cover cookie sheets in parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray. Drop onto parchment paper in half-teaspoon sized drops about two inches apart --- these really spread!

The rounder the drop, the more attractive the resulting cookie!

Bake in 330 degree oven until medium brown, about 6 minutes. Remember to rotate the pans halfway through for even cooking. Place sheets of parchment paper on racks and let the cookies cool.

If cookies are slightly misshapen, immediately coax them into a round shape by pushing in stray edges with a spatula.

Temper the chocolate by placing two thirds of it in a double boiler and stir lightly until melted. Add one third of the remaining chocolate and stir gently. When it is melted, add the remaining chocolate in two batches to continue the cooling process. When done, the temperature of the chocolate should be 89 to 91 degrees F. Add more chocolate if additional cooling is necessary.

Paint the bottom of the cookies, using a small spatula or brush, Make a wavy pattern with a fork if desired. Place them upside down until the chocolate is set. You can refrigerate them to speed this process.

These store up to one week refrigerated in an airtight container in single layers, separated by waxed paper..

© 2008, John A. Watlington. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

wad@alum.mit.edu