Image is for illustrative purposes only.
Florentine sticks are a petit four classic: a short, buttery almond base piped into fingers and finished with a caramel florentine mix that melts, spreads and sets into a thin, chewy, nutty glaze. The base stays tender and slightly sandy from the ground almonds, while the top gives that crisp toffee snap you expect from a good florentine.
I make these when I need a small crunchy piece to serve beside pastries and petit fours, or to break up and use as a garnish on cakes and desserts. They keep well in a sealed container, so a batch can be baked ahead and cut into whatever length you need.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 128
Number of Units: 15
Unit Size: 125 g portion of mixture, piped and baked into sticks
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WEIGHT
(grams)
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ALTERNATIVE METRIC
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INGREDIENT
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IMAGE
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CONDITION
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A
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650 |
22.9 ounces
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Almond Meal
Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds (no skin), whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than wheat flour.
It is used in pastry and confectionery – in the manufacture of almond macarons and other sweet pastries, in cake and pie filling, such as Sachertorte and is one of the two main ingredients of marzipan and almond paste. In France, almond meal is an important ingredient in frangipane, the filling of traditional galette des Rois cake.
Almond meal has recently become important in baking items for those on low carbohydrate diets. It adds moistness and a rich nutty taste to baked goods. Items baked with almond meal tend to be calorie-dense.
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B
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450 |
15.8 ounces
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Florentine Mix
Florentine mix is a ready-made caramel base used by pastry kitchens for Florentine biscuits and nut brittles, usually a blend of sugar, glucose, butter, cream and pectin. It melts to a thick caramel that sets hard and crisp once baked and cooled. A homemade version can be made by boiling together equal parts sugar, glucose, butter and cream with a little pectin.
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C
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500 |
17.6 ounces
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Butter
Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted
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room temperature |
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D
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200 |
7 ounces
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Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
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E
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100 |
3.3 Egg Whites
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Egg White
Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized). Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg whites contain just over 50% of the protein in the egg. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza).
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room temperature |
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F
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5 |
0.2 ounce
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Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar, also known as potassium bitartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate, is a byproduct of winemaking. It is known as cream of tartar in context with cooking. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic acid).
In food, cream of tartar is used for:
- Stabilizing egg whites, increasing their heat tolerance and volume
- Stabilizing whipped cream, maintaining its texture and volume
- Anti-caking and thickening
- Preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing
- Reducing discoloration of boiled vegetables
Additionally it is used as a component of:
- Baking powder, as an acid ingredient to activate baking soda
- Sodium-free salt substitutes, in combination with potassium chloride
A similar acid salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate, can be confused with cream of tartar because of their common function as a component of baking powder.
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G
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2 |
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Salt
Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
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H
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10 |
2 teaspoons
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Vanilla Essence
Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
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I
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5 |
1 teaspoon
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Almond Essence
Almond essence is a concentrated flavouring made from bitter almond oil or its synthetic equivalent, used a few drops at a time to lift the marzipan-like flavour of almond bakes. It is very strong, so measure it carefully.
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1922
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Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
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STEP
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ACTION
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DETAIL
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CONDITION
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1 |
Pre-heat |
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and line two flat baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats. |
Trays flat, so the sticks bake evenly |
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2 |
Cream |
Cream C and D (butter and caster sugar) together with G, H and I (salt, vanilla essence and almond essence). |
Pale and light, sugar well dispersed |
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3 |
Add |
Mix F (cream of tartar) into E (egg white), then add the egg white to the creamed butter a little at a time, mixing well between each addition. |
Smooth and creamy, not split |
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4 |
Fold |
Fold A (almond meal) through the mixture. |
An even, soft paste that will hold a piped shape |
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5 |
Pipe |
Fill a piping bag fitted with a 12 mm plain nozzle and pipe fingers about 8 cm long onto the prepared trays, leaving a good gap between them as they spread. |
Even thickness along each stick |
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6 |
Bake |
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. |
Set on top and just starting to colour at the edges |
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7 |
Warm |
While the sticks bake, warm B (florentine mix) in a saucepan or microwave, stirring, until it is soft and pourable. |
Loose enough to spoon, not boiling hard |
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8 |
Top |
Take the trays out and spoon a thin line of the warm florentine mix along the top of each stick. |
A thin layer only; it spreads as it bakes |
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9 |
Bake |
Return to the oven and bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes. |
Topping bubbling and golden caramel in colour |
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10 |
Cut |
Let the sticks firm for 2 to 3 minutes on the tray, then trim the ends and cut to length with a sharp knife while still warm. |
Warm and pliable; they shatter once cold |
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11 |
Cool |
Slide the paper onto a rack and cool completely before lifting the sticks off. |
Caramel set firm and crisp |
Important Notes
This batch makes about 1.9 kg of mixture, enough for roughly fifteen 125 g portions, or two large trays of petit four sticks. Pipe the sticks well apart, as both the base and the caramel topping spread during baking. Cut them to length while they are still warm — once the florentine topping is cold it sets hard and the sticks will crack. Store cooled sticks in an airtight container in a dry place; humidity softens the caramel. Broken pieces are still useful crushed as a crunchy garnish on cakes and desserts. The mixture can also be piped and baked a tray at a time and the rest kept covered in the fridge for a day or two.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with paddle, mixing bowls, spatula, piping bag with a 12 mm plain nozzle, two flat baking trays, baking paper or silicone mats, small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl for warming the florentine mix, teaspoon or small palette knife, sharp knife, cooling rack.
