My last post was a blog on how to make candied peel. The best use I know for this delicious ingredient is panforte - a nutty, spicy confection from Tuscany. This luxurious product might cost about £10 from a patisserie, for a small round wrapped in decorative paper and weighing 400g. If you make it yourself you will have a far superior product that can be divvied up into 30 or more pieces and cost half the price.
I was originally inspired to make panforte by Antonio Carluccio. In his book
Complete Italian Food
he has a recipe for Panforte but it calls for candied pumpkin which is delicious but not straightforward to make. It involves reboiling pumpkin pieces in a syrup several times before the flesh is transmuted into a sweet, mealy candied fruit.
Once the orange peel is candied and the cake tin is prepared panforte is easy to make.
To make panforte
Makes 30 pieces
200g almonds
150g walnuts or hazel nuts
300g candied orange, chopped into small pieces
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp coriander seeds, milled in a spice grinder
½ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
200g plain flour
200g icing sugar
2 tbsp water
200g honey (runny if possible)
4 to 5 sheets of rice paper
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
Preheat oven to 160 C/325 F/Gas 3.
Line an 8 square or round lose bottom cake tin with rice paper.
Mix the nuts, candied fruit, spices and flour together in a large bowl. Place icing sugar and honey in a saucepan together with two tablespoons of water. Heat gently and stir to ensure the icing sugar is dissolves. Increase the heat until the mixture bubbles vigorously.
Quickly pour this mixture into the flour, nuts and candied peel and mix well. Spread the mixture into the cake tin (you must work quickly now as the honey/sugar mixture will begin to cool and set). Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, then remove and leave to the panforte to cool in the tin. When cool remove from the tin and dust with vanilla sugar. Store in an airtight container and refresh with a dusting of vanilla sugar as required.
I have to say a big thank you to 7 year old Albert Davies my great nephew for helping to make this panforte. He lined the cake tin, weighed and mixed the ingredients, set the oven temperature and the timer. His two year old sister Anneka also played a role. She dusted the top of the panforte with vanilla sugar and then helped herself to a teaspoonful. This was followed by a wicked smile. I forgave her - this time anyway!
Albert