Florentine like from the confectioner, easy to make at home

Get all your ingredients ready first, because things move quickly from here on. Put the butter, cream, sugar, Glucose syrup and honey together in a pan. The order doesn't matter, everything can go on the stove at the same time.

Bring the mixture to the boil while stirring and measure the temperature with the Thermometer. At exactly 110 °C it is perfect. If it is too cool, your Florentines will turn soft and chewy after a few days. If it is too hot, the sugar becomes too dark and tastes bitter. This is one step where it really pays to not guess!

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the flaked almonds until every almond is nicely coated in caramel. Then add the Orangeat, Zitronat and the chopped candied cherries. Transfer the mixture to a Bowl and let it cool briefly, but only until you can touch it with your fingers. Once it is completely cold, it can no longer be shaped.

Preheat the oven to 170 °C convection heat. Place a small bowl of cold water next to the silicone mould. Dip your fingers in the water and press about 10 g of dough flat into each cavity. Wet fingers stop the dough from sticking, I promise! Don't pile it up: the dough still spreads a little in the oven.

Bake the Florentines for about 13 minutes, until golden brown. Let them stand in the mould briefly, then carefully press them out and let them cool completely on baking paper. While warm they are still soft and pliable, once cold they become wonderfully crisp.

Now it gets chocolatey! Temper the couverture, dark or milk, whichever you prefer. The easiest way is with a tempering device. Tempering is worth the effort: only then does the base turn out glossy and crisp and release cleanly from the mold later.

You need about 90 g of couverture per chocolate bar mold. With the brush, you paint the couverture into the cavities, which is quick and needs little chocolate. With the piping bag, you fill the molds from the bottom up, which lets the air escape and leaves hardly any bubbles. Our favourite is the piping bag, as it gives the base the smoothest finish.

Place the cooled Florentines onto the still liquid couverture and press them down gently. The chocolate may rise a little at the edges, but it should not overflow.

Place the mold in a cool spot for 10 to 15 minutes. If the couverture was tempered correctly, it contracts and your Florentines almost fall out of the mold on their own. Take a look at this pattern, isn't it lovely?