Panforte Italian Christmas Fruit And Nut Cake Food

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!

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/ ITALIAN CHRISTMAS FRUIT AND NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 °C . Place hazelnut on a tray and bake for 15 mins until it turns light brown. Keep it aside to cool.Bake almonds for 5 mins until it turns light brown. Let it cool. Chop hazelnut and almond coarsely. In a large bowl add nuts, candied fruit, spices, flour, salt and Cocoa powder.
• Melt chocolate in a steel bowl by double boiler method.
• Stir the melted chocolate into the chopped fruit and nut mixture.
• Mix well until melted chocolate is evenly coated.
• Meanwhile grease pan well and place a parchment paper below.In a sauce pan, stir together honey, sugar and maple syrup. Stir continuously until sugar has dissolved.
• Wash the side's of the pan with silicon brush dipped in warm water.
• Continuously boil the mixture over medium heat without stirring until the temperature reaches 115 °C.
• Switch off heat and stir the boiled sugar, honey and maple syrup into the chopped nut, fruits and flour mixture and mix gently.
• Transfer the mixture immediately to the greased pan and flatten the surface with wet hands. Spread evenly as the mixture will get hard quickly
• Preheat oven to 150 °C and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the surface forms blisters. Remove from oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
• Once it's cooled, wrap tightly in a plastic wrap and store in a cool, dry place. Well wrapped Fruit cakes will stay for several months and can be served with cup of coffee or wine or as a dessert after a meal.

PANFORTE DI SIENA - TRADITIONAL TUSCAN HONEY / NUT CAKE

Steps:

• Toast the almonds under the grill / broiler until lightly browned; place in a bowl.
• Toast the hazelnuts until the skins split. Place on a dry tea towel and rub off the skins.
• Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add to the almonds with the mixed peel.
• Chop the apricots and pineapple fairly finely, add to the nuts with the orange rind; mix well.
• Sift the flour with the cocoa and cinnamon, add to the nut mixture and mix evenly.
• Line a round 8" cake tin or deep loose base flan tin with baking parchment.
• Put the sugar and honey into a saucepan; heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil gently for approximately 5 minutes or until mixture thickens & begins to turn a deeper shade of brown.
• Quickly add to the nut mixture and mix evenly. turn into the prepared tin & level the top using the back of a damp metal spoon.
• Cook in a preheated oven, 150°°C / 300F for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until cold. Remove from the tin and carefully peel off the paper.
• Before serving, dredge the cake heavily with the icing sugar. Serve in very thin slices as this is an incredibly rich cake!

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.

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE AND NUT CAKE (PANFORTE)

Steps:

• Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water
• Use a fork to beat the egg whites in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Add in the peel, ground almonds, the nuts, icing sugar and Amaretto. Mix well, then very gently fold in the melted chocolate.
• Line a circular flan dish measuring about 18cm across and 3sm deep with clingfilm. Pour in the mixture and set aside for 2 hours.
• To make the topping, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water
• Melt the icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stir to check the sugar has melted, then add the chocolate to make a syrup.
• Turn out the cake onto a plate and peel off the clingfilm. Use a spatula to cover the surface with the chocolate syrup. Set aside for 1 hour until the chocolate has hardened.
• Serve in slices, dusted with icing sugar, with a cup of your favourite tea.