do you know florentine biscuits? round, small, chewy, with nuts, dried fruits, and a chocolate bottom?
for a long time we couldn't understand our mom's enthusiasm for these cookies, until we became grown ups and now they're everybody's favorites!
actually we love them so much we decided to make this florentine-inspired cake. it's delicious! well, you can't really go wrong with chocolate, nuts, dried fruits and caramel.
you can cut it into small squares, that way it's perfect with a cup of tea or a coffee, and it's not too filling.
we use dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage for the brownie and the topping, but if you prefer something sweeter you can of course use milk chocolate (either for the cake, the topping, or both!). same thing for the nuts, use the one you like (or the one ou have!): walnuts, pecan nuts, cashews,...
for one medium cake:
for the brownie:
200 g dark chocolate
50 g granulated sugar
50g brown sugar
40 g flour
3 eggs
20 g salted butter
50 g unsalted butter
for the topping:
100 g dark chocolate
nuts (we use whole and flaked almonds, whole hazelnuts and pistachios), dried cranberries,
for the caramel:
50 g granulated sugar
toast nuts in the oven: spread nuts in an even layer on a baking sheet. place under the oven broiler for a few minutes. check very often, as once the nuts begin to brown, they can burn in just a few seconds! you can stir the nuts after 2 or 3 minutes.
prepare the brownie: melt chocolate and add sugar when chocolate is melted and still hot.
add then butter in small pieces. incorporate the eggs one by one and whisk until combined.
whisk in flour.
butter and flour a baking pan.
bake for 20 minutes 150°C (300 F). leave to cool.
unmold carefully the cake.
prepare the topping: melt chocolate, and spread it on the top of the brownie. sprinkle the toasted nuts and dried cranberries all over the melted chocolate.
prepare the caramel: place sugar in a saucepan and heat on medium-high until it starts melting around the edges. whisk carefully with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has melted. cook until mixture is dark amber (it should take only a minute or so).
remove from heat and quickly drizzle the caramel on top of the nuts.
let cool.
store in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
piece of advice:
toasting the nuts in the oven is a really important step: it makes a huge difference compares to untoasted nuts. it gives crispness to the nuts, and deepens their flavor.
you can store this cake in the fridge overnight, it's so good the next day!
