Fruit feves part II: Raspberry
The raspberry feves really taste very raspberry-y. Because they are just powdered fruit in white chocolate there is no artificial raspberry flavour. They also are quite fresh tasting, they don’t have that preserved flavour of dried fruit or jam. These raspberry feves taste like summer, but are available any time of year.
When I first got all these fruit feves, I was trying to dream up different things to do with each flavour. It seemed obvious to me to pair the raspberry with something almondy to evoke the classic flavour pairing of a Bakewell tart. When I saw Claire Saffitz’s free-form florentines I thought the free form idea was a brilliant innovation. I always think florentines seem a bit fiddly to make, especially spreading chocolate over each cookie individually. But these florentines are made in a big sheet, then you spread the chocolate in a thin, even layer over the top and then break the florentine sheet up into rough, cookie-sized pieces after they are cooled. Sort of like a big sheet of peanut brittle, but more florentine-y. The result is crisp, caramelly cookies that keep well in the fridge in an airtight container.
Check out the rest of the fruit feve series:
almond - quadruple almond and apricot cookies
strawberry - pb & j cookies
passion fruit - passion coco cream puffs
yuzu - yuzu pistachio shortbread
raspberry & almond free-form florentines
Adapted from What’s For Dessert? by Claire Saffitz
1 ¼ cup flaked/sliced almonds
¼ cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbs heavy cream
2 tbs honey or golden syrup
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ - ½ tsp almond extract (almond extract is strong - dial in how powerful you want the almond flavour to be)
5.5 ounces raspberry chocolate feves, roughly chopped
Toast almonds: Heat oven to 350 F. Spread almonds over a quarter sheet pan (9”x13”). Toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the almonds are golden brown. Set almonds aside and line the pan with parchment paper.
Florentine dough: Bring butter, sugar, honey and cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the mixture reaches a vigorous boil. Add flour and salt off heat and stir until the mixture is smooth with no remaining lumps of flour. Add extracts and almonds, incorporating evenly.
Spread mixture on prepared sheet pan. Add a second layer of parchment on top of the dough and, using a small, smooth object (drinking glass, measuring cup bottom or similar) press the dough evenly over the pan in a smooth layer.
Freeze for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm enough and you can peel away the top layer of parchment cleanly.
Bake for 10-14 minutes. The batter should be bubbling, golden brown and lacey looking. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for about 10 minutes. Pop into the fridge for around 30 minutes, or until firm.
Carefully remove the sheet of cookie from the pan and turn it upside down. Place it back in the cookie sheet.
Using a double boiler on low heat, melt the chocolate. Spread in a thin, even layer over the cookie. Refrigerate until cool and chocolate is fully set. Break the florentines up into rough pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
