Florentine Lace Cookies
Makes 24 cookies
It is important to cook the cream mixture in the saucepan until it is quite thick and starting to brown at the edges; under-cooking will result in a dough that is too runny to portion. Do not be concerned if some butter separates from the dough while you are portioning the cookies. For the most uniform cookies, use the flattest baking sheets you have and make sure your parchment lies flat. Cool the sheets for at least 10 minutes between batches. When melting the chocolate, pause microwave and stir chocolate often to ensure that it does not get much warmer than body temperature.
2 cups (8 ounces) slivered almonds
¾ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) sugar
¼ cup orange marmalade
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process almonds in food processor until they resemble coarse sand, about 30 seconds.
2. Bring cream, butter, and sugar to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to brown at edges and is thick enough to leave trail that doesn’t immediately fill in when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 1 to 2 minutes longer (it’s okay if some darker speckles appear in mixture.) Remove pan from heat and stir in almonds, marmalade, flour, vanilla, zest, and salt until combined.
3. Drop 6 level tablespoons of dough onto each prepared baking sheet leaving at least 3 ½ inches between. When cool enough to handle, use damp fingers to press each portion into 2 1/2-inch circle.
4. Bake until deep brown from edge to edge, 15 to 17 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer baked cookies, still on parchment, to wire rack to cool. Let sheets cool for 10 minutes, line with fresh parchment, then repeat portioning and baking remaining dough.
5. Microwave 3 ounces of chocolate in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until almost fully melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and add remaining 1 ounce chocolate and stir until melted, returning to microwave for no more than 5 seconds at a time to complete melting. Transfer chocolate to small zipper-lock bag and snip off corner to make 1/8-inch hole.
6. Transfer cooled cookies from parchment directly to wire racks. Pipe zig-zag of chocolate over surface of each cookie, distributing chocolate evenly among all 24 cookies. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes. Cookies can be stored in airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 4 days.
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