Cherry & coconut Florentines

These beautiful little hearts are cherry and coconut Florentines, wonderful present ideas for friends at Christmas. I found this recipe in a GoodFood magazine, and thought that I must try it. It was very easy and succeeded well, and the taste - mmmm! Just wonderful. I've never heard about Florentines before, but I think that from now on I'll make these every Christmas. 

Makes about 36 hearts

Ingredients:

140g dark muscovado sugar

100ml clear honey (liquid)

200g salted butter

100g desiccated coconut

140g flaked almonds

300g glacé cherries, sliced into small pieces

4 tbsp plain flour

250g dark, mik or white chocolate (I used semi dark chocolate, about 50% cocoa)

1. Heat oven to 200°C. Put the sugar, honey and the butter in a large pan and gently melt together. When all the sugar has dissolved stir in the coconut, flaked almonds, sliced cherries and flour. 

2. Line a large baking tray with a parchment paper (about 40x30cm). Roughly spread the Florentine mixture out to a thin layer - don't worry if you have small gaps, it will melt together in the oven. 

3. Bake for 10-12 mins until a rich golden colour, the set aside to cool and firm up. 

4. Melt the chocolate in a small kettle over gently simmering water. 

5. Line a second large baking tray with a parchment paper and carefully flip the cooled Florentine bake onto it. Peel off the baking parchment. 

6. Spread the melted chocolate over, if you're using a few types just leave a gap between each one. 

7. Leave aside until set, then stamp out shapes using a preferable cookie cutter (I used heart, but you can use for example star or something else). If the cutter is diggind into your hands (as the Florentine mix may be a little hard), rest a small plate or pan on top of it and push down on this instead.