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| Recipe Archive > Cakes & Biscuits > |
 Panforte
(Serves 18-20)
Rich with nuts and aromatic spices, sticky with dried fruits and finished with a liberal dusting of Whitworths icing sugar to add a pretty snowy effect, this traditional Christmas cake of Sienna goes a long way cut into small pieces and served with coffee, or a dessert wine over the festive week.
I think the texture and flavour of a home - made Panforte improves after storing for one week, or of course until Christmas.
Equipment & Ingredients
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225g (8oz) blanched almonds and hazelnuts, in equal amounts toasted (see tip) |
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225g (8oz) chopped lemon and orange candied peel (see tip) |
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85g (3oz) dried ready to eat apricots, chopped finely |
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55g (2oz) dried ready to eat figs, chopped finely |
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1½ tsp ground coriander seeds |
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200g (7oz) Whitworths icing sugar |
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Whitworths icing sugar to finish |
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Method
Add the nuts, candied peel, apricot, fig and spices together in a mixing bowl and stir in the flour.
Heat the icing sugar, honey and 1 tbls of water slowly in a heavy based pan until dissolved. Increase the heat until the mixture bubbles and cooks into a thin light brown caramel ( for about 3 minutes ) or to the hard crack stage if using a sugar thermometer .
Pour over the nut and dried peel mixture and quickly mix together with a large wooden spoon until evenly blended.
Grease the rice paper with butter and use to line a greased 23cm (9in) loose bottomed cake tin. Press the panforte mixture inside and roughly level the top with the back of the spoon.
Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 160°C / 325°F / gas mark 3. Let cool, then dust thickly with sifted icing sugar over the top.
Wrap well in 3 sheets of clingfilm, then cover in a sheet of decorative floral paper and tie with gold or silver twine. Keep until Christmas.
Tip
The best way to toast the nuts is to lay them over a tray and lightly brown them under a hot grill. Shake the tin once or twice to distribute the nuts evenly so that they brown on all sides, and keep a beady eye on them as they toast as they tend to burn very quickly.
Tip
I usually buy a carton of ready chopped candied peel, then chop it more finely before adding it to the remaining ingredients, this gives the panforte a finer texture.
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