Chocolate Hazelnut Panforte Food

HAZELNUT PANFORTE

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 300°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom and sides with parchment paper; butter paper.
• Mix first 16 ingredients in large bowl, tossing to separate fruit pieces. Bring honey, sugar, and butter to boil in small saucepan, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low. Place candy thermometer in mixture, tilting to submerge bulb, and cook until thermometer registers 242°F to 248°F, stirring occasionally, about 9 minutes. Pour syrup over nut mixture; stir to blend. Immediately transfer mixture to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until bubbling slightly at edges and top appears dry, about 55 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cover; let stand overnight at room temperature.
• Release pan sides. Remove paper from sides and bottom of panforte. Place panforte on cardboard round. (Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

CHOCOLATE PANFORTE CANDIES

Steps:

• Cook first 5 ingredients and 1 teaspoon orange peel in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until liquid forms thick syrup that coats figs, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; mix in cinnamon, remaining 1/4 teaspoon orange peel, and nuts.
• Melt chocolate in microwave-safe bowl on medium power until melted and warm to touch, stopping once to stir, about 1 1/2 minutes. Arrange paper cups on rimmed baking sheet. Spoon 1 mounded teaspoon chocolate onto bottom of each paper cup. Tap baking sheet on work surface to spread chocolate over bottom of cups. Top center of each with about 1 mounded teaspoon fig mixture. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Peel off paper. Let chocolates stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT PANFORTE

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400&;amp;deg;F. Brush two 8-inch-diameter cake pans with melted butter. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Brush parchment generously with butter. Reserving remaining butter.
• Place hazelnuts on small cookie sheet; place almonds on another small cookie sheet. Toast in oven until nuts are brown and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes for almonds and 14 minutes for hazelnuts. Cool. Gather hazelnuts in dish towels. Rub in towel to remove husks. Transfer hazelnuts and almonds to large bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
• Add figs, apricots, citron, orange and lemon peels to nuts in large bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder and spices in small bowl. Add to nuts.
• Combine sugar, honey and remaining melted butter in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until mixture is smooth and sugar is mostly dissolved, about 5 minutes. Bring to boil. Continue cooking until candy thermometer registers 248&;deg;F. (firm-ball stage). Immediately pour over mixture. Stir to combine thoroughly.
• Divide batter between prepared pans, using back of buttered spoon to spread evenly. Bake until tops and edges just begin to brown and tops feel dry, about 1 1/4 hours. Cool slightly on wire rack. Run small sharp knife around edges of pans to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto work surface; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely.
• Arrange cakes top sides up on 8-inch cardboard rounds. Spread half of chocolate over each. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 1 hour.
• Brush tops of cakes with cocoa powder. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap decoratively with colored cellophane. Tie ribbon with gift tag around cellophane to secure. (Panforte can be prepared up to 1 month ahead. Store at cool room temperature.)

CHOCOLATE PANFORTE

Steps:

• You can either use a 9 inch springform pan or an 8 inch square pan, in both cases grease well and line with parchment paper, grease the parchment paper. Using the square pan is recommended if you are cutting the Panforte into pieces to add to a cookie tray or wrap and give as holiday gifts.
• Preheat the oven to 350 º.
• Spread the hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes or until they are light brown and fragrant. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 250 º and allow the nuts to remain in the oven if you are proceeding with the Panforte at this time. If not, remove the toasted nuts, reserve and warm when you are ready to proceed with the recipe.
• Place the chopped candied orange peel, figs and orange peel in a large bowl and combine with a wooden spoon or with your hands.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, spices, salt and pepper twice, the second time sift directly over the fruit. Combine the dry ingredients well with the fruit to insure that the fruit is evenly coated.
• Placed the chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water - standard procedure for melting chocolate. Stir every so often to insure that all of the chocolate is melted. Once the chocolate has melted, turn off the flame however leave the bowl on top of the hot water to keep the chocolate warm.
• Have a candy thermometer ready at the stove. Place the sugar and honey in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring from time to time. As soon as the sugar dissolves stop stirring and increase the heat to high. Allow the mixture to simmer until the syrup has reached 237º, the soft boil stage. The syrup comes to the correct temperature rather quickly, so keep a close watch. If the temperature rises about 237º, the recipe will still work but the panforte will be firmer.
• Carefully pour the hot syrup over the chopped fruit and dry ingredients, add the warmed nuts straight from the oven. Adjust the oven temperature once again to 350º.
• Pour the warm melted chocolate over the fruit and nuts and immediately stir everything together. Having the nuts warm will help the mixture come together as this is a very dense batter. The mixture will be thick and rather difficult to combine, have faith it will be fine.
• Turn the mixture into the prepared pan with a large wooden spoon or spatula. Dampen your fingers and pat down so that it is even.
• Bake for 18 minutes until the Panforte is set but not too hard. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan before slicing it into segments or bars. The Panforte keeps quite well, wrapped in plastic and stored in a cool dry place. It is actually better after a week when the flavors begin to develop. This is a very rich sweet and thin slices or small segments are all that is needed.