Best 4 Panforte Recipes

SIENA CAKE - PANFORTE DE SIENA

Steps:

• Chop almonds, hazelnuts, apricots, pineapple, orange and lemon peel.
• Mix well with flour, cinnamon, and cocoa.
• Put sugar and honey in a saucepan, stirring over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add chocolate to saucepan, stir until melted, and remove from heat.
• Combine with fruit and nut mixture; cut parchment paper circle to fit bottom of 8" well-buttered round cake pan, then butter the paper and evenly spread the batter into the pan.
• Bake at 300 degrees F for 35 minutes.
• Let cool in pan.
• Remove cake from pan, wrap in foil, and let stand overnight.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into thin wedges.
• Wrapped in aluminum foil to stay air-tight, it will keep for weeks, refrigeration not needed.
• Note: the Julesong photo accompanying this cake was taken about a month after it was made, because this cake can keep for so long and we forgot to take pics when it was newly done and the powdered sugar was still all pretty. :) Please excuse the slightly messy nature of the cake in the photo - we'll replace it with a good one, next year.

PANFORTE DI SIENA

Steps:

• THERE IS NO FAT. THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE.
• Turn oven on to 350 and toast hazelnuts until golden - about 15 minutes. Return oven to 300 after toasting.
• Line a pie plate with parchment paper so that the paper comes up the sides too. This is crucial. Maybe wax paper will work. PAM both the plate before the paper and then the paper. This is a major sticker.
• Drain orange peel if you have soaked it in brandy. Combine well all ingredients except honey and sugar. Stir. Stir. Stir.
• Heat honey and sugar until soft ball stage, 240 degrees F. Careful. It gets there real fast so watch for scorching.
• Turn out to a large bowl and add the dry ingredients. Combine. You have a dense mass difficult to combine which is why you need a large bowl.
• Place in lined pie plate and spread - shouldn't be more than 3/4 inches high. Wet your hands to spread and smooth it out. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn it out to an oiled plate and remove paper. When cool, cut into small squares. I then shake the totally cooled pieces in a bag with powdered sugar (to which cinnamon can be added). Cocoa powder is good, also, for shaking inches Store in air tight container. Keeps forever. Note: This is not a "dessert" but more adult candy. Good for snacking with a glass of wine or brandy. Stuff keeps for weeks in an air-tight container which is why the Italian Crusaders brought it to their wars in the Middle East.

PANFORTE DI SIENA - TRADITIONAL TUSCAN HONEY / NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Toast the almonds under the grill / broiler until lightly browned; place in a bowl.
• Toast the hazelnuts until the skins split. Place on a dry tea towel and rub off the skins.
• Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add to the almonds with the mixed peel.
• Chop the apricots and pineapple fairly finely, add to the nuts with the orange rind; mix well.
• Sift the flour with the cocoa and cinnamon, add to the nut mixture and mix evenly.
• Line a round 8" cake tin or deep loose base flan tin with baking parchment.
• Put the sugar and honey into a saucepan; heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil gently for approximately 5 minutes or until mixture thickens & begins to turn a deeper shade of brown.
• Quickly add to the nut mixture and mix evenly. turn into the prepared tin & level the top using the back of a damp metal spoon.
• Cook in a preheated oven, 150°°C / 300F for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until cold. Remove from the tin and carefully peel off the paper.
• Before serving, dredge the cake heavily with the icing sugar. Serve in very thin slices as this is an incredibly rich cake!

MAIDA HEATTER'S PANFORTE CIOCCOLATO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the almonds in a shallow cake pan and bake them in the center of the oven, stirring once or twice, for 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside.
• Move a rack to the lower third of the oven and lower the temperature to 325 degrees. Cut a round of parchment to fit the bottom of a nine-inch springform pan, two or three inches deep. Cut a strip (or two shorter strips) about an inch and a half wide to go around the sides of the pan. Butter the sides and bottom of the pan. First put the strip (or strips) around the sides of the pan, just touching the bottom and covering only part of the way up on the sides. Then put the round in the bottom of the pan. Butter the papers on the bottom and the sides, dust all over with fine dry bread crumbs, invert over paper to shake out excess crumbs and set the pan aside.
• Put all the candied fruits in a large mixing bowl. Sift together over the fruit the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper and espresso or coffee powder. With your hands, mix the fruits with the dry ingredients, thoroughly separating and coating the pieces. Add the almonds and hazelnuts and mix again. Set aside.
• Put the honey and sugar in a saucepan with a six-cup capacity over moderate heat. Stir with a wooden spatula until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Then insert a candy thermometer in the pan and let the mixture boil without stirring until the thermometer registers 248 degrees (stiff-ball stage); the mixture will reach this temperature soon after it comes to a boil.
• Now you must work very quickly before the hot syrup cools and hardens. Pour the syrup onto the fruit mixture, stir with a heavy wooden spatula to mix, and -- without waiting -- transfer the mixture to the prepared pan (there will be just barely enough syrup to moisten the dry ingredients).
• Immediately cover with a piece of plastic wrap and press down on the top with your hands to press the mixture into an even layer. Then use a can or a small saucepan or any round and flat piece of equipment to press down very firmly on the top to form a compact layer. Quickly remove the plastic wrap.
• Bake for 40 minutes. (You will not know by looking or testing that the cake is done; it will become firm as it cools.) Do not overbake.
• Set aside to cool. When the cake is completely cool and firm, remove the sides of the pan and the paper strip (or strips) on the sides. Cover the cake with a rack and turn upside down. Remove the bottom of the pan and the paper lining on the bottom.
• Place the cake upside down on a length of wax paper. Through a fine strainer, generously sprinkle on confectioner's sugar, forming a thick coating. Then carefully turn the cake right side up and sprinkle sugar on that side also. There should be a generous amount of sugar on both sides.
• Wrap the cake in airtight plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature for days, if you wish, or a week or two (or freeze).
• To cut into portions, unwrap the room-temperature cake, re-sugar if necessary and, using a long, sharp, heavy knife, cut straight down across the top, then cut each half into eight wedges.