Best Florentine Cupcakes Recipes

FLORENTINES (ITALY)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
• Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.
• Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.
• Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.
• Optional chocolate topping: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
• For sandwiches: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto on the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
• For chocolate decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the almonds, flour and zest in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the almond mixture. Cool the batter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart (the cookies will spread). Flatten the batter slightly with your finger.
• Bake the cookies until they are lacy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a rack and cool completely. Transfer the cookies to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, lining the baking sheets with clean parchment for each batch. (The cookies can be made up to this point 2 months ahead. Cool completely, then store airtight in the freezer. Defrost before continuing.)
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate.

LACE COOKIES (FLORENTINE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
• Place almonds into the bowl of a food processor; alternate pulsing and running at full speed every few seconds until finely chopped and crumblike. Be careful not to go too far; you don't want them too fine and pasty.
• Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir a few times and cook until melted and dissolved. Bring to a boil, then carefully remove from the heat.
• Add vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add chopped almonds and mix with a spatula until everything is combined.
• Drop eight uniformly sized, rounded spoonfuls of batter (each about 2 teaspoons, or 15 grams) onto the prepared sheet. Fine-tune the cookie shapes and make sure they are evenly spaced.
• Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown and a bit darker around the outsides, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
• Remove from the oven and slide the silicone liner off the baking sheet and directly onto the countertop. Allow to sit until cool and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes, then gently peel cookies off the liner. Repeat to bake remaining batches.
• Spread melted chocolate over the flat side of one cookie. Place a second cookie, flat-side down, on top to make a sandwich and press very gently to seal. Repeat to form remaining cookies. Let sit until chocolate has firmed up, about 30 minutes.

FLORENTINE EGGS ON ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• In small microwavable bowl, mix yogurt, mayonnaise and mustard. Microwave on High 20 to 40 seconds or until warm. Stir; set aside.
• In 10-inch skillet, heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches water to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Break each egg into shallow dish; carefully slide egg into hot water. Quickly spoon hot water over each egg until film forms over yolk. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until eggs are desired doneness.
• Meanwhile, spread about 2 tablespoons sauce on each English muffin half. Top each with half of the spinach leaves.
• With slotted spoon, remove eggs from water; place over spinach. Top each with half of remaining sauce; sprinkle with pepper.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour cookie sheet.
• Stir whipping cream and sugar together until well blended. Stir in almonds, orange peel and flour. Dough will be very thin.
• Drop by scant teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Flatten with knife or spatula.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until cookies brown lightly around edges. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.
• Melt chocolate bars over low heat. Turn cookies over; spread with chocolate. Allow to dry 8 hours at room temperature or until chocolate becomes firm. Store in covered container or in refrigerator.

EGG-TOPPED MUFFINS FLORENTINE

Steps:

• In 1-quart saucepan, mix all sauce ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until warm. Cover; keep warm.
• In 12-inch skillet, heat 1 inch of water to boiling; reduce to simmering. Break each egg, one at a time, into custard cup or saucer. Holding dish close to water's surface, carefully slip egg into water. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until whites are firm, not runny. Remove eggs with slotted spoon. Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package.
• On microwavable plate, place Canadian bacon. Cover loosely; microwave on High about 1 minute or until hot.
• For each serving, place 1 English muffin half on serving plate. Top each muffin half with 1 slice bacon, about 2 tablespoons creamed spinach, 1 poached egg and 1 heaping tablespoon sauce.

EASY FLORENTINE EGG CUPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut off bread crusts. Brush both sides of bread slices with butter. Gently press one slice into each cup of a standard muffin tin. Place 1 tablespoon spinach in each bread cup, then crack an egg into each; season with salt and pepper.
• Bake until whites are set and yolks are still soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve.

FLORENTINE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 12-hole 2-tablespoon capacity flat-based patty pan with paper cases.
• Using an hand electric mixer, cream the butter and caster sugar until it is pale and creamy; add the egg and beat until the ingredients are well-combined; sift the flour over the butter mixture and stir gently to combine; stir in the cream; two-thirds fill each paper case with the mixture and smooth the surface.
• The Florentine Topping: Combine the butter, brown sugar and cream in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl; microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minutes or until smooth; stir in the flour, almonds, apricots and cherries and spoon the topping over the cupcakes.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden; allow to completely cool in the pan; then transfer to a serving plate.
• Spoon the melted chocolate into a snap-lock bag, seal and snip off 1 corner. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cakes and serve.