Having time to potter around the kitchen, leisurely stirring or chopping is what I call ‘luxury cooking’. This is best done in a timely fashion on a rainy afternoon and is far more enjoyable than the daily rush to get vaguely nutritious meals on the table. Florentines are so easy to make and best of all they only require one pan to wash up ! You could add any kind of chopped nut or dried fruit to the sticky mixture but I find glace cherries and orange rind pleasingly festive.

Ingredients

• 50g salted butter

• 50g brown sugar

• 50g golden syrup

• 50g plain flour

• 50g glacé cherries

  chopped

• 75g flaked almonds

• 50g pistachios

  chopped

• 2 oranges

  zested

• 125g dark chocolate

Method

• Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
  Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small pan over a low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour then add the cherries, flaked almonds, pistachios and orange zest.

• Scoop approximately 15 teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread.. Bake for 12 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 2 mins until firm enough to lift onto a cooling rack.

• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water. Turn the florentines over on the wire rack. Using a pastry brush spread chocolate onto the base of each florentine. Store in an airtight container and eat within 2 weeks.

These are easy and taste delicious. I managed to find some biodegradable card sleeves on a last minute dash around Trago Mills (if you know you know). Trussed up with a ribbon from the stash and I am feeling Mary Berry Christmas Special Smug, 

i hope you find some time for something non-essential over the next couple of weeks and have a little festive moment for yourself.

Sophie