Panforte from Siena — grandma’s recipe for the Tuscan Christmas cake, perfect to enrich our tables together with all the other Christmas treats, such as panettone, Pandoro, Pandolce, homemade soft torrone, Zelten and many more from North to South! Panforte, like Siena’s Ricciarelli, is a Christmas cake with very old origins; it is estimated that its invention may date back to the year one thousand, when it was called Pan Pepato. A low sweet bread made with almonds, candied fruit, sugar and honey, enriched with spices, then baked in the oven on a wafer sheet. The ancestor of Panforte was therefore called Panpepato, which in turn descended from the older Sienese cake called “pan mielato”: flour, water and honey and fruit, which in summer would mold and turn sour, thus becoming “Fortis”.
The preparation of panforte used to be entrusted to the Guild of Physicians and Apothecaries of Siena and was reserved exclusively for nobles, the wealthy and the clergy because it contained orange peel, citron and melon, almonds and spices that were very expensive at the time.
For a long time, given its nutritional characteristics, it was considered a very energetic food and it is said that in 1260, during the Battle of Montaperti between Siena and Florence, the poorly fed Florentines were defeated by the Sienese who had refueled with large quantities of panpepato. The energetic qualities of this cake were therefore the main engine of their victory.
In 1879 Queen Margherita visited the city of Siena and on that occasion an apothecary prepared a panforte covered with powdered sugar instead of black pepper; thus Panforte Margherita was born, much more delicate than the traditional version, which until then had remained unchanged.

But leaving history aside and coming back to our days, this summer we went on vacation in Tuscany and one of the stops was the city of Siena — could we not gorge ourselves on Nannini panforte?
Of course not! So even though it cost a lot and it was July, we tasted it and liked it so much that we thought making it at home and sharing the recipe with you would be very interesting.
So I had the nerve to stop an elderly lady in the street to ask for the recipe; she was kind and helpful, she couldn’t give me an exact measure because being a traditional cake every family has its own version, but she gave me some guidelines which, explored at home, led me to make an easy-to-make panforte that is a show of aromas, spices and fragrances. As for the spices, if you want to be really precise you can buy the ready spice mix online.
Curious? Follow me in the kitchen — you’ll see how simple and delightful it is — but first I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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