Christmas Panforte di Siena
Panforte is a traditional, chewy, Tuscan Christmas speciality. Rich, dense and uniquely aromatic, this chewy-fudgy cake is bejewelled with chunks of candied fruit and crunchy, whole almonds and hazelnuts. The magic starts by carefully selecting the star ingredients, then slowing blending and boiling these with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. The finished cake is dusted with sugar. A delicious snack at home or on the go.
Serves: approx. 12-16
Ingredients for the dough:
120g hazelnuts
50g dried figs
50g dried apricots
50g candied orange peel
50g raisins
50g pistachios
75g flour
1cm ginger – freshly grated with the coarse blade of the Microplane Dual Grater
1tsp cinnamon – freshly grated with the fine blade of the Microplane Dual Grater
One nutmeg – freshly grated with the Microplane Spice Mill
One tonka bean – freshly grated with the Microplane Spice Mill
150g honey
100g sugar
1 orange – zest freshly grated with the Microplane Premium Classic Zester
Icing Sugar for dusting
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cover the baking tin (size approx. 10 x 30cm) with baking paper
- Roast the hazelnuts in the oven for about 8-10 minutes then let them cool briefly on a kitchen towel and use the kitchen towel to rub off the skin. Lower the temperature of the oven to 150°C.
- Chop the dried fruit and mix with the nuts and orange zest. Fold in the flour and spices.
- Pour the honey and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil, heating until the sugar is dissolved. Add the sugar-honey liquid very quickly to the nut mixture and immediately pour it into the baking dish, spread it out using a tbsp or damp hands
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Leave until completely cooled in the baking tray
- Remove from the tin and baking paper and dust with icing sugar
- Cut into small slices.
The Microplane® range is available from John Lewis, Borough Kitchen, Divertimenti, hartsofstur.com and independent cookshops nationwide.
