Chocolate Dipped Florentines Food

FOODCHANNEL EDITOR

Steps:

• 1 Combine butter, cream, corn syrup, sugar and flour in a medium-sized saucepan and heat to boiling over medium heat. Stir continuously to prevent burning. 2 Remove pan from heat and stir in almonds, ginger and orange peel. 3 Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop batter in very small quantities with wide spaces between, since cookie will become very thin and spread out. 4 Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, then cool for less than 1 minute before shaping. If you do not intend to shape cookies, you can let them cool longer. If shaping, wrap the edge around the handle of a wooden spoon and roll tightly. If cookies cool too much before shaping, simply warm them up in the oven for a few seconds. 5 Cool until hardened. Melt chocolate in microwave (about 1 minute per 8 ounces), in a shallow container that will allow you to dip an edge of the cookie in. Dip each cookie and lay on waxed or parchment paper until cool.

FLORENTINES (ITALY)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
• Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.
• Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.
• Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.
• Optional chocolate topping: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
• For sandwiches: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto on the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
• For chocolate decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300F (150C).
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush very lightly with neutral vegetable oil.
• In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients.
• Keep a small bowl of cold water and a fork near where you're working.
• Dip your hand in the cold water before lifting each portion of almonds, and place heaping tablespoon-sized mounds of the batter evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet.
• Once you've covered the baking sheet, dip the fork in cold water to flatten the cookies as much as possible. Try to avoid having many gaps between the almonds.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown. Exact time will vary based on how large your cookies are. The authors recommend lifting the bottom of one with a metal spatula to check and see if they're cooked through. If they're not brown across the top and bottom, they won't be agreeably crispy.
• Let cookies cool, then lift with a thin metal spatula and place them on a cooling rack until crisp. Continue baking all the cookies on the same baking sheet. (I found no need to re-oil it between uses.)