Panforte di Siena
A favorite during the Christmas holidays, Panforte di Siena is a traditional cake originally from Siena, Italy.
Equipment
- 1 9-inch spring form pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup skinned hazelnuts
- 1 cup blanched almonds
- 3 cups diced candy peel mixture of orange, lemon, and pineapple
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- pinch of white pepper
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup honey
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsb unsalted butter
- confectioner's sugar
- baking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 °F
- Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with baking spray.
- Arrange the nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in a 350 °F oven for 5 minutes. Stir, and roast for 3-5 minutes, or until lightly brown. Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together nuts, candied fruit peel, spices, salt, and flour.
- Combine the sugar, honey, and butter in a saucepan. Cook until mixture reaches the softball stage on a candy thermometer (25o°F) or when the hot mixture forms a soft ball when dropped in a small glass of cold water.
- Pour the hot syrup over the dry ingredients and mix quickly before it sets. Pour into pan and smooth the top with the back of a large spoon until even.
- Bake 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit until it firms up enough to remove from pan. Remove parchment paper. Heavily dust the top and bottom of panforte with confectioner’s sugar.
- Store in a tightly sealed tin at room temperature up to two months.
Notes
Bake the cake for at least 30 minutes. If it still looks a bit wet, leave it in for another 5 minutes. The cake sets as it cools when the honey syrup mixture stiffens.