Panforte Di Siena Traditional Tuscan Honey Nut Cake Recipes

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 DI SIENA CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 180 degree C / 350 F.
• Spray spring form pan with nonstick spray & line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Bake raw hazelnuts & almonds about 10-15 minutes until they are fragrant and the skins go away easily.
• Place the baked nuts on a wire rack. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow the nuts steam for 5-10 minutes. Rub the nuts with your hands to get rid of the skins. Let them cool completely before you will chop them coarsely. I didn't chop my hazelnuts because I just like them this way.
• Now in a large bowl, combine flour, chopped nuts, candied mango, salt, unsweetened cocoa powder, ground cinnamon & ground ginger.
• Melt chocolate chips over the pan of simmering water. Pour in over fruit & nut mixture.
• In a saucepan with a candy thermometer, mix together sugar and honey. Over medium heat bring it to boil. Sugar must dissolve. Continue to boil mixture until temperature reaches 115 degree C or 240 F( don't stir).
• Pour honey-sugar mixture (syrup) over nut & fruit mixture. Combine quickly as it will stiffen immediately.
• Transfer into the prepared spring form, evenly spread & bake 30 minutes (180 C/ 350F).
• Dust the top of Panforte cake with confectioners or icing sugar.
• You can store this Panforte cake up to 2 months. This cake is very reach so I advice to serve it in thin slices.

PANFORTE DI SIENNA (ITALIAN FRUIT CAKE)

Steps:

• Position the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325° F. Coat the pan with cooking spray, then lay a round of parchment in the bottom, and then coat the top of the parchment with cooking spray. Dust flour all the way around the sides and the bottom and tap out any extra. The panforte will be very sticky, so you want the pan to be well-prepared.
• In the large bowl, toss together prepared almonds, hazelnuts, figs, apricots, and orange peels.
• In the medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and ground pepper. Make sure all the dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients to the fruit and nuts and toss together until everything is thoroughly coated.
• In the medium sauce pan with the candy thermometer attached, add the sugar, honey and butter and cook over medium heat until the temperature reaches 217° F. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the candy thermometer. Quickly pour the sugar mixture over the fruit and nuts mixture and stir together with a nonstick spatula until everything is thoroughly coated.
• Pour into the prepared baking pan and spread the mixture around evenly.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the surface is bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
• To serve, dust with powdered sugar and cut into thin slices. Wrap in parchment and plastic wrap to store.

PANFORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees with a rack set in the center of the oven. Generously spray a 9-by-2-inch heavy-bottomed, nonstick round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with a parchment paper circle, spray parchment paper circle with cooking spray. Coat bottom and sides of pan with flour, tapping out excess.
• Using a sharp knife, roughly chop almonds and hazelnuts and place in a large, wide bowl, along with orange peel, apricots, and figs; toss to combine.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Add to bowl of nuts and fruit and toss until well combined.
• Place sugar, honey, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook mixture until it reaches 217 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat and quickly pour sugar mixture into nut mixture. Using a heatproof spatula, stir until well combined. Transfer mixture to prepared cake pan, smoothing surface with a spatula.
• Transfer cake pan to oven and bake until entire surface is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool completely. Wrap well with parchment paper, and then again with plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry place up to 3 weeks.
• To serve, dust the panforte with confectioners' sugar and cut into thin wedges with a sharp knife.

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.