THE RECIPE
Makes about 24 small biscuits. Ready in about 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Using a food mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 75g of butter with 120g caster sugar until light and fluffy. Roughly chop 30g of pistachios. Stop the machine, then add the chopped pistachios, 3 level tbsp of plain flour, 90g of flaked almonds and 100g of finely chopped candied peel.
Mix very briefly, just enough to distribute the ingredients evenly but without crushing the almonds.
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Place mounds of the mixture (about 2 heaped tsp each) on the lined baking sheet, about 7cm apart to give them room to spread. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. They will have spread and the edges will be quite thin and untidy. Use a biscuit cutter to pull the edges of each one in a little, until the cookies are almost perfectly round. Leave to settle for about 10-15 minutes, then lift on to a cooling rack using a palette knife, turning them upside down as you go.
Melt 200g of dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. (You can use a microwave if you prefer.) As soon as the chocolate is liquid, brush it thickly over the base of the florentines and leave to set.