GATHER JOURNAL

Photograph byStephen Kent Johnson Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero


    
Crunch: Sound

Buckwheat Orange Florentines

Desserts from Issue 12 - Winter 2018 – The Senses

Buckwheat groats and pecan bits give our lacy, chocolate-drizzled Florentines a chewy brittle consistency—a lower frequency on the sonic spectrum of crunch, but still quite intelligible to the hungry human ear.

makes about 2 ½ dozen



  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • ½ cup candied orange peel (available at most specialty stores)
  • ⅓ cup buckwheat groats
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

  • 1

    Preheat oven to 350°F and line one or two baking sheets with parchment.
  • 2

    Stir together pecans, orange peel, groats, flour and salt in a medium bowl.
  • 3

    Combine sugar, cream, butter, and honey in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir into the fruit and nut mixture.
  • 4

    Working in batches, spoon a heaping tsp of cookie dough onto baking sheet, pressing to flatten slightly, leaving at least 2 inches between cookies. Bake, rotating pan midway through baking, until golden brown, 9-12 minutes. Cool pan on a rack until cookies have crisped. Repeat using cooled pans.
  • 5

    Melt chocolate over a pot of simmering water or in the microwave and stir until smooth. Using fork tines, drizzle chocolate over cookies and set aside until dry. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container 3 days.