In the context of the SPHERE planet finder project, we further develop and characterize a recently proposed method for the efficient direct detection of exoplanets from the ground using spectral and angular differential imaging. The method, called ANDROMEDA, combines images appropriately into "pseudo-data", then uses all of them in a Maximum-Likelihood framework to estimate the position and flux of potential planets orbiting the observed star. The method's performance is assessed on realistic simulations of images performed by the SPHERE consortium, and it is applied to experimental data taken by the VLT/NAOS-CONICA instrument. © 2010 SPIE.