Tuscan Spiced Cake (Panforte)

Panforte (also known as "Panforte di Siena") is a traditional Italian cake made from honey, nuts, candied fruit, and spices. The cake is often prepared with the addition of dried fruits, such as figs or dates. Since the cake is very rich, be careful not to cut overly large slices!

Details

  • Preparation Time: 20 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 55 minutes
  • Difficulty: 2
  • Spiciness: 0
  • Number of Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 90 g chocolate, dark

  • 120 g Nuts, almonds, blanched

  • 125 g Nuts, hazelnuts

  • 170 g Candied fruit

  • 1 teaspoon Spices, cinnamon, ground

  • 0.25 teaspoons Spices, cloves, ground

  • 0.25 teaspoons Spices, ginger, ground

  • 0.25 teaspoons Spices, nutmeg, ground

  • 65 g Wheat flour, white, multi-purpose

  • 1 spoon Cocoa, powdered, unsweetened

  • 130 g Sugar, white

  • 160 ml Honey

  • 1 teaspoon Butter, unsalted

Steps

  1. In a dry pan, toast the almonds and hazelnuts. Shake the pan several times during toasting to ensure the nuts are evenly toasted. Be careful not to burn them! Transfer the toasted nuts to a board, let them cool, then roughly chop them. In a bowl, mix the nuts, candied fruit, flour, spices, and cocoa powder. Chop the chocolate into small pieces.

  2. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Grease a 20 cm (8-inch) pie dish with butter and line it with parchment paper. Place the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl and set it over a hot water bath (see tips). Wait for the chocolate to melt. Remove the bowl with the melted chocolate and let it cool slightly. In another heatproof bowl, place the sugar and honey. Set the bowl over a hot water bath and, at low heat, stir the sugar constantly until it completely dissolves. Then continue stirring until the mixture thickens slightly. When you can pull threads from the mixture, remove the bowl from the water bath and let the mixture cool slightly while stirring.

  3. Mix the honey mixture together with the melted chocolate into the bowl with the flour, nuts, candied fruit, and spices. Since the mixture will set quickly, immediately transfer it to the prepared baking dish and, using wet hands (or the back of a spoon), spread it evenly in the dish. Place the dish in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

  4. Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool in the dish on a metal rack. While the cake is still warm, sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Let the cake cool completely.

  5. Once cooled, remove the cake from the dish, peel off the parchment paper, and place the cake on a larger plate. Cut it into thin slices, serve on plates, and enjoy.

Nutrition Information (Per 100g)

  • Calories: 464.99 kcal
  • Fat: 23.05 g
    • Saturated Fat: 3.37 g
  • Carbohydrates: 58.48 g
    • Sugars: 44.28 g
  • Protein: 7.31 g
  • Fiber: 4.36 g

Advice

A water bath is used for melting and dissolving delicate foods and ingredients or for frothy mixing (especially for preparing various sauces and creams). Place a heatproof bowl with the ingredients over another bowl with hot water and whisk the ingredients in the upper bowl until they thicken and froth. The water in the lower bowl should not boil vigorously! Traditionally, the cake is prepared with thin rice wafers for baking. Place the wafers on the bottom of the baking dish and on top of the cake before baking.