Panforte is a Christmas cake rich in flavor and energy, with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a typical Tuscan dessert, especially from Siena, made with lots of dried fruit, originally orange peel, citron, and melon, as well as almonds and spices.
As often happens with traditional recipes, there are some variations depending on the region and customs. Today, we also find panforte made without candied fruits and with other dried fruits, like figs, as in my case.
The process is quite simple: add flour and spices to the dried fruit and a mix of honey and boiling sugar. Mix everything well in a bowl, transfer it to a cake pan, and bake it. The only slightly tricky part is that the ingredients need to be combined, but not overworked, as it sets quite quickly and so it is more difficult to spread in the cake pan. But you will see that if you follow the recipe, you won’t have any problems!
If you like Christmas cakes, also try these recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation time: 35 Minutes
- Portions: 1 cake pan 9 inches in diameter
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 7 oz almonds
- 12 oz dried figs
- 9 oz walnuts
- 6 oz all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (grated)
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2/3 cup honey
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 oz water
- as needed powdered sugar
Steps
To prepare the panforte, preheat the oven to 340 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cake pan (9 inches in diameter) with baking paper. If you only line the bottom of the pan with baking paper, grease the sides with some seed oil to make it easier to remove the panforte after baking.
Spread the almonds on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and toast them for 8-10 minutes in the oven.
Meanwhile, cut the dried figs into small cubes and put them in a large bowl together with the walnuts, flour, and spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper). Mix everything well. When the almonds are toasted, add them too and mix well again.
In a saucepan, put the water, sugar, and honey. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture begins to boil. Then pour it into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix quickly until no traces of flour are visible. Try to do this step as quickly as possible, as the longer it is mixed, the more it compacts and it will be more difficult to spread it in the cake pan later.
Transfer the mixture into the cake pan, wet your hands and press it well until it fills the pan evenly. If you have a small rolling pin, you can also place a sheet of parchment paper on the mixture and roll over it with the rolling pin to compact everything further and make the surface even.
Dust the surface with powdered sugar and bake at 340 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes, until the surface appears dry and even.
Remove from the oven, let it rest for 5 minutes, and then immediately remove the panforte. Do not let it cool completely in the pan, otherwise it will be harder to remove.
Let it cool completely on a wire rack, dust again with plenty of powdered sugar, and serve cut into wedges or cubes.
Tips
Panforte is one of those cakes that keeps well for a long time, even for 4 weeks, tightly wrapped in parchment paper.
