Florentines

Preheat the oven to 170C/ 325F/ Gas mark 3.

Wash all the syrup from the glace cherries, dry thoroughly and dice finely.

If the pieces of mixed peel are large, dice these to the same size as the cherries. Place the diced cherries, mixed peel, sultanas, flaked almonds and flour in a large bowl.

In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter and sugar. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream, then add this to the ingredients in the bowl. Stir until evenly blended. Spoon 6 walnut sized scoops of the mixture onto each baking sheet, spaced well apart, gently pressing down the mounds with a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 15minutes or until golden. Remove and immediately reshape the Florentines into circles; a cookie cutter is ideal or you can use a knife. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and repeat the process until all the mixture is used and baked.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally, until it has reached a spreading consistency. Brush chocolate on the underside of each Florentine using a pastry brush and leave to set.