Thanks to John I’ve been introduced to all kinds of things that have improved the quality of my life: college football, the Jersey Shore (the place not the show), fiscal responsibility, improv, living in Somerville, big ball bowling, Las Vegas, being treated like gold, etc.
Despite all these things one that has made a significant impact is my introduction to florentine cookies. I’m not even kidding. I’d never had these before we met and that’s really a shame because they are easily one of my favorite desserts.
Basically a florentine is two layers of candied sugar and nuts, sometimes dried fruit too, sandwiched around a layer of chocolate. They are delicate, yet rich, sweet and savory, and will melt in your hands at room temperature .
It would logically seem that florentines originated in Florence but after some research it looks like the jury is out on this one. Their history is blurry; they could have come from Italy, Paris, or Austria. In any case, they are customarily an Italian specialty so I’m going to stick with that for now (even though the methodology, ingredients, and delicacy seem more Parisian to me).
This entry was mainly to firmly declare that I’ve finally found which local bakery makes the perfect florentines: Modern Pastry. Yes, both locations.
During my research I tried to find a recipe for these babies. Let’s be real here: This is one thing I know I cannot make at home but I wanted to see what kinds of recipes were out there to confirm this truth.
This is the most authentic recipe I found, this was the simplest one, and this one looked good until I saw that it had corn syrup in it (as many of them do actually).
I’m ok with not having to make these at home. I bought a half dozen last tonight, ate two, and the rest are in the freezer. Life is good.
Domestocrat 
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