Shelly's Recipe

CHOCOLATE-DRIZZLED FLORENTINES

Category: Bars

These cookies are delicious. The cookies take some time to make but they're well worth it.

For the dough
14 ounces (1 3/4 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound, 5 ounce (42/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour (I weighed the flour. If you don't have a scale, fluff and spoon into measuring cups.)

For the topping
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
7 ounces (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, more for the pan
3/4 cup honey
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly granted orange zest
17 ounces (4 cups) sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted
3/4 cup chopped candied citrus peel (optional)
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and kept warm

Beat butter, zest, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat it in well; add vanilla extract. Stir in the flour (in 3 additions) until blended. Spread dough out, about an inch thick, on a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm. (You can refrigerate the dough, wrapped well, for up to a week.)

Lightly butter another half sheet pan (a sided pan that measures 11 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches) and line with parchment paper, set aside.

Roll dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper into a rectangle until it's between 1/8 and 1/4 inches thick. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and flip the dough onto the prepared pan so that it fits along the bottom and up the sides completely. If the dough cracks a bit, just press it back together. Press into the sides of the pan, don't leave any gaps. Cut off any excess dough by running a rolling pin along the edges of the pan. Chill until firm.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a sheet of foil or parchment paper over the dough and weight it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and the foil or parchment paper and continue to bake until completely set, about 10 minutes. Cool.

While the crust is cooling, make topping.

In a large heavy saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup and 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture becomes amber in color (350 to 360 degrees on a candy thermometer). Immediately remove from heat. Carefully add butter and honey, return to heat and stir until dissolved. Bring the mixture back to a boil and carefully add the heavy cream and zest (the mixture will bubble up and may splatter). Boil the mixture until it reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in almonds (and citrus peel if using). Quickly pour the mixture over the baked sugar cookie shell before it cools, spreading evenly with a lightly greased spatula.

Bake until the topping begins to bubble, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan. Cut along the edges of the pan to loosen the edges. Turn the Florentines out, upside down on to a clean cutting surface. Line 2 clean baking sheets with parchment.

To cut through these thick, chewy cookies without cracking the crust slice them in 2 stages. First, score the ragged edges of the cookie crust with a bread knife, cutting through the crust completely. With a large chef's knife, cut through the filling to cut off the ragged edges completely. Next, score 1 1/4-inch-wide horizontal bands top to bottom (again deeply, through the crust but not through the filling). To make the diamonds, score 1 1/4-inch strips starting at the top left corner and dividing that corner into 2 45-degree angles. Continue scoring at this width and this angle until all the cookies are scored. Follow the scoring lines with the chef's knife, using steady force to cut through the thick nut filling. (Each diamond should be about 1 1/4 inches long and about 1 inch wide.)

Turn each Florentine over and set on the clean sheet pans. Fill a pastry bag with a tiny tip, a heavy plastic bag with a corner cut off, or a paper cone with the melted chocolate (or use a fork dipped in the chocolate) and drizzle it on the diamonds. The cookies are best at room temperature but can be refrigerated if the kitchen is too warm for the chocolate to set.

Yields about 60, 1 1/4 inch-diamond-shaped cookies.