Best 5 Panforte Di Siena Traditional Tuscan Honey Nut Cake Recipes

PANFORTE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).
• Line a 7-8 inch cake pan with parchment paper making sure you line both the bottom and the sides. To help the baking parchment stick to the cake pan you can rub a little butter or spray a little oil on the cake pan first.
• Mix the flour, spices, nuts and candied peel in a large mixing bowl, set aside.
• In a large pot or Dutch Oven add the sugar and honey on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is slightly bubbling.
• Turn the heat down low and add the flour and nut mixture to the honey, stir it quickly until it is thoroughly combined. It will be very sticky so a silicone spatula works best for this.
• Once combined, spoon the mixture into the cake pan and smooth it out as you best you can.
• Put in the oven and bake the panforte for 35 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely.
• Once cooled remove from the cake pan and parchment paper and dust heavily with powdered sugar.
• Slice and serve or store for later.

PANFORTE DI SIENA RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Line cake pan with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper and sides of cake pan liberally with butter or cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, coriander and cocoa powder. Stir in hazelnuts, almonds, zest and figs until combined.
• In a medium saucepan, combine honey and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a boil. Let mixture boil for 15 seconds then immediately pour over dry ingredients and stir until combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and smooth top. Bake until batter is bubbling, about 45 minutes.
• Let Panforte cool completely then remove from pan. Dust top of cake with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Panforte will stay fresh, wrapped in plastic wrap, for months.

HOMEMADE PANFORTE

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 300F (150C). Grease and flour parchment paper to fit an 8 inch (20cm) cake pan.
• In a large bowl stir together the nuts and candied fruit. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and spices. Set aside.
• In a small pot stir together the honey, water and sugar, heat on medium heat stirring until mixture starts to boil, lower the heat to slow boil for about 2-3 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved. (There will be no gritty bits on the spoon when you are stirring).
• Add the honey mixture to the nut mixture and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and quickly combine well. (This is where using your slightly wet hands would probably be best).
• Place the mixture into the prepared cake pan and with wet hands or the bottom of a wet metal spoon flatten the batter so it is even. Dust the top of the batter with a tablespoon of icing sugar before baking. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.
• Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes, then run a wet knife around the outside of the cake and remove. Place on a cake stand or plate and let cool completely before dusting with icing sugar. Slice with a sharp knife and serve. Enjoy!

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.

TRADITIONAL SIENA FRUITCAKE (PANFORTE)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Toast hazelnuts on a baking sheet in the oven until the skins pop and blister, 10 to 15 minutes. Rub the skins from the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until very pale golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Chop the almonds and hazelnuts very coarsely.
• Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
• Mix the nuts, orange peel, citron, lemon zest, flour, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, nutmeg and pepper together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.
• Butter a nine-inch springform pan, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper and then butter the paper.
• Heat the granulated sugar, honey and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until the syrup registers 242 to 248 degrees on a candy thermometer (a little of the mixture will form a ball when dropped into cold water). Immediately pour the syrup into the mixture and stir quickly until thoroughly blended. Pour immediately into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. The batter will become stiff and sticky very quickly so you must work fast.
• Bake about 40 minutes. The panforte won't color or seem very firm even when ready but it will harden as it cools. Cool on a rack until the cake is firm to the touch.
• Remove the sides of the pan and invert the cake onto a sheet of waxed paper. Peel off the parchment paper. Dust heavily with confectioners' sugar.