Panforté (Siena Cake)
Forgive me for saying this, but as a Canadian that had never had panforté before I made it myself, the closest thing I can compare it to is an Eatmore, and, as a notice to anyone who has not tried this Italian version of fruitcake, this is also a wholly inaccurate comparison. However, the chewy, honey and chocolate nougat that suspends all of the ingredients together is not all that dissimilar in texture and few things are otherwise comparable.
This dessert is an amalgamation of all the little things I made an effort to do for Christmas this year. The candied orange zest, candied ginger and blanched nuts all come into play here to officially signal an end to my Christmas baking, into one delicious cake culminating all things Christmas but a warm fire and a glass of Brandy.
Like the European/North American fruitcake, there’s no definitive recipe for what to be included in a panforté, just spices, nuts and dried fruit of your favor. Figs and pine nuts might be more welcome and prominent here, but your usual candied fruit, pecans and currants are not out of place. Also like our fruitcake, the flavor of panforté tends to mature, so it’s best to make it ahead of time before you’re preparing to serve it to guests.
- 1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup (82.5g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1 cup hazelnuts, blanched and toasted
- 1 cup pecans, toasted
- 2 cups mixed dried fruit (apricots, figs, prunes, cranberries, currants and/or raisins), chopped
- 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
- 1/2 cup candied oranges, chopped
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup mild honey
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees with the rack positioned in the center.
- Grease the inside and bottom of a 9″ springform pan, then line it with parchment paper, grease it again and dust all greased portions with cocoa powder, shaking off any excess.
- In a large bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, spices, salt, nuts, dried and candied fruits and mix well. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar and honey until dissolved. Then, continue to cook undisturbed until it registers 240 degrees (soft ball stage for sugar).
- Working quickly now, remove the pot from the heat and add all of the ingredients, mixing to ensure everything is adequately covered and no dry specks of flour and cocoa remain. Quickly scrape this into the prepared pan and, with a greased spoon or lightly wetted hands, press evenly into the mold so that it is flat and covers the surface area.
- Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake until the sides begin to puff up and the surface looks matte, about 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing the spring coil, inverting and removing the parchment paper.
- Once cooled, wrap in wax paper and place in a sealed bag for a week for the flavors to mature, then/or dust lightly with powdered sugar and cut into thin slices.