Despite having only been baking for around five years, her natural charm made her a winner with viewers, and she now brings her personal brand of body positivity and delicious cookery to her fans through her website.
We welcomed Laura, armed with her favourite Christmas cooking ideas, to our Nicker Hill development, near Nottingham. She delighted lucky visitors with her salted caramel and milk chocolate Florentines, one of her best Christmas recipes. And now she’s sharing how to make this really easy Christmas food with you.
How to make salted caramel and milk chocolate Florentines
Florentines are one of those quick and easy Christmas recipes that are a doddle to make but will impress your guests and keep the whole family, especially those with a sweet tooth, very happy.
They are a sweet biscuit, usually made with dried fruit and nuts, and coated with milk chocolate on one side. Laura has taken her Florentine recipe to new heights with the addition of salted caramel and we can assure you, they are truly scrumptious! They even make great Christmas gifts for friends and family.
You’ll need a saucepan, a large cupcake or muffin tray, mixing bowl, spoon, wire rack for cooling and the ingredients below.
Ingredients
- 100g flaked almonds
- 75g pecans, finely chopped
- 55g peel (I like lemon and orange mixed peel, but you can use any)
- 75g Raisins
- 20g plain flour
- 45g unsalted butter
- 75g light brown soft sugar
- 55g golden syrup
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 200g good quality milk chocolate
Method
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4
- Mix together the flaked almonds, chopped pecans, candied peel, raisins and flour in a bowl and set aside for later.
- Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pan and cook on a low–medium heat for 4–5 minutes, until the butter and sugar have melted, and the mixture has thickened to a syrupy caramel.
- Remove the mixture from the heat, then add the salt and dry ingredients. Stir well to incorporate until everything is evenly distributed (you shouldn’t be able to see any streaks of flour).
- Add a tsp of the mixture to each cupcake hole. You don’t need to grease it beforehand.
- Bake the Florentines for 12 minutes exactly. They should be golden brown in colour.
- While baking, heat the milk chocolate in the microwave in 20 second blasts until it’s just melted.
- Working quickly, dip the base of each Florentine into the milk chocolate to coat, then place it on a wire rack, with the chocolate side facing upwards.
- Leave them to set before serving and enjoy!
Watch Laura in action at our Nicker Hill development and see what guests thought of her Florentines here:
