Festive Florentine Crescents Food

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour then add the cherries, flaked almonds, pistachios and orange zest.
• Scoop 10 flat tbsp of the mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread. You will need to do these in batches. Bake for 10 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 2 mins until firm enough to lift onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water or in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Turn the florentines over on the wire rack. Spoon chocolate onto the base of each florentine and gently spread to the edges. When the chocolate is firm enough to hold its shape, use a fork to draw wavy lines across the chocolate. Leave to set and then store in an airtight container.

FESTIVE FLORENTINE CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Thaw the spinach and drain well. Cube the Velveeta. Cook the bacon and crumble.
• Combine spinach, Velveeta, bread crumbs and bacon in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until Velveeta is melted.
• Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate into 16 triangles. Cut each in half lengthwise, to make 32 triangles.
• Spread each triangle with about 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture. Roll up, starting at wide end. Place on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes, until golden.

FLORENTINE CHICKEN RING

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Mix chicken, red bell pepper, spinach, Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, lemon zest, salt, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Set aside. Unroll crescent roll dough, and separate into 16 triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on a 13-inch baking stone or pizza pan with the wide ends of the triangles overlapping in the center and points facing out. The center diameter should be about 5-inches. Scoop chicken mixture evenly onto the widest end of each triangle. Bring the outer point of each triangle towards the center of the circle and tuck the point under the wide end of the dough. The filling will not be completely covered.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Slice and serve.

CHERRY & COCONUT FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the sugar, honey and butter in a large pan and gently melt together. When all the sugar has dissolved stir in the coconut, flaked almonds, sliced cherries and flour.
• Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper (about 40 x 30cm), and roughly spread the Florentine mixture out to a thin layer - don't worry if you have small gaps, it should melt together in the oven. Bake for 10-12 mins until a rich golden colour, then set aside to cool and firm up.
• Melt the chocolate(s) all in separate heatproof bowls over gently simmering water. Line a second large tray or board with greaseproof paper and carefully flip the cooled Florentine bake onto it. Peel off the greaseproof paper. Spread the melted chocolate over, if you're using a few types just leave a gap between each.
• Leave aside until set, then stamp out shapes using cookie star cutters - if the cutter is digging into your hands (as the Florentine mix may be a little hard), rest a small plate or pan on top of it and push down on this instead.