Panforte

This is the famous Panforte di Siena a fantastic Tuscan Christmas cake from Sienna, we found it virtually impossible to purchase outside Sienna, except at the airports,where as usual they'll sting you for it!! Delicious…yes, fruity…yes, just to warn you though; it is very rich, so keep the portions to the smaller size.

Serves 12-14
Prep time 15 mins
Cooking time 1 hour 30 mins
Ingredients

• 4oz/115g Almonds
• 4oz/115g Hazelnuts
• 3oz/85g Candied peel
• 2oz/55g Candied pineapple, finely chopped
• 2oz/55g Dried apricots,(ready to eat ones)finely chopped
• Grated rind of 1 orange
• 2oz/55g Plain flour
• 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp Ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp Ground cloves
• 6oz/175g Clear honey
• 4oz/115g Caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Icing sugar for decoration

Method

• Line the cake tin with baking paper.
• Spread out the hazelnuts and almonds onto two separate baking sheets and toast in a pre-heated oven 350F/180C/gas mark 4 for about 10 minutes,until golden.
• Check the almonds at 6-7 minutes, if browned take them out or they'll burn. Put to one side.
• Tip the hazelnuts onto a clean tea towel and rub off the skins.
• Chop the nuts together and place in a large bowl.
• Lower the temperature to 300F/150C/gas mark 2.
• Add the candied peel, pineapple, apricots and orange rind to the nuts and mix well.
• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, coriander, nutmeg and ground cloves into the bowl and mix again.
• Put the honey and sugar into a saucepan and set over a low heat, stirring all the time until the sugar has dissolved.
• Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, until thickened and beginning to darken.
• Stir the nut mixture into the saucepan and remove from heat.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface with the back of a damp spoon or palette knife.
• Bake in the oven for 1 hour,then transfer to a wire cooling rack. This will cool the tin down.
• Carefully remove the cake from the tin, and peel off the baking paper.
• Leave to cool completely, just before serving dredge over the icing sugar.
• Cut into thin wedges to serve.

Equipment

• 8inch/20cm Loose based cake tin
• Baking paper
• Baking sheet

Cooks tip

• This can be made 1-2 weeks in advance, store in an airtight container.

Shopping List

• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Candied peel
• Candied pineapple
• Dried apricots
• Orange
• Plain flour
• Cocoa powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Ground coriander
• Ground cloves
• Honey
• Caster sugar
• Icing sugar