November Baking Club Update

Baking Club is held on the first Tuesday of every month (except January) and the first Tuesday of November also happens to be Melbourne Cup Day. We’re not much interested in horse racing, but we love an excuse for high tea! We donned our fascinators and nibbled on delicious dainty goodies.

Various tarts, scones, and truffles made an appearance but the favourite on the day was the delicious florentine.

Florentines are made of a mixture of sugar, butter, cream, nuts and fruits, and traditionally have a chocolate base. They can be fiddly, so our bakers recommend making a double batch while you’re at it. They keep well in the freezer so you don’t have to make them fresh every time you fancy a florentine.

Given their name, many people assume they originate in Florence, Italy, but Austrian bakers are well known for them, and some people also think they may have been developed in France (based on their ingredients) and named for the gold coins from Florence that were used as currency throughout Europe.

The following ingredients will make about 30 florentines:

• 1/3 cup each of glacé cherries and mixed candied peel
• 2/3 cup sultanas or raisins
• 1 ½ cups slivered almonds
• 6 Tbsp flour
• 120g butter
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 3 Tbsp cream
• 200g chocolate

Get the full recipe from Artisan Home Baking by Meg Rivers, available from the library.

If you’re baking for your own high tea, try Better than a bought one: clever recipes and ideas for home-grown celebrations by Jo Seager, Food for friends edited by Ariana Klepac, and of course Vintage tea party by Carolyn Caldicott.

Of course, you’ll also need to know about the tea, for which this book will be useful: The art and craft of tea: and enthusiast’s guide to selecting, brewing, and serving exquisite tea by Joseph Uhl.

To ensure you don’t embarrass yourself at said high tea, make sure you check out Emily Post’s etiquette in society, in business, in politics, and at home.

And if all that sounds like far too much effort, you can just read a novel. Try Krista Davis’ The diva serves high tea or Becky Chambers’ delightful story about a tea monk, A psalm for the wild-built.

10 November 2023

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