Panforte, Aussie-style
Inroduction
About this Recipe
By: Sheridan Rogers
This nougat-like cake, rich in nuts, candied fruits and spices is a speciality of Siena in Italy. I’ve used macadamias to give it an Aussie twist.
Ingredients
- whole hazelnuts 125g
- unsalted whole macadamias 150g
- mixed peel (candied citrus peel) 150g, chopped
- plain flour 1/2 cup, sifted
- cocoa, good quality 1/3 cup, sifted
- cinnamon 3 teaspoons
- ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon
- ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon
- honey 1/2 cup
- caster sugar 1/2 cup
Preheat oven to 180degC. Toast the nuts on separate trays for 10 – 12 minutes or until macadamias are a light golden colour. Remove and cool. Rub skins off hazelnuts between the palms of your hands over the sink (a rough cloth or teatowel is useful). Discard all the flaky skins. Combine the nuts and peel in a mixing bowl. Sift over the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and spices and mix thoroughly together. Place honey and sugar in a small pan, cover with a lid and bring to boiling point. Leave to simmer gently for 5 – 10 minutes. Pour over the fruit and nut mixture, stirring well with a wooden spoon: it will be very sticky and you will need to stir it vigorously. It helps if you dip the spoon in milk. Turn down oven to 150degC. Turn mixture into a lined greased 20cm flan ring – or into 4 x 11cm tartlet tins (see below), smoothing the top with hands (or a spoon) dipped in milk. Press down firmly. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool, turn out and dust with sifted icing sugar. To serve, cut into small wedges and serve with coffee or a lovely sticky wine. Tip: blanched almonds can be subsituted for the macadamias . I love the fragrance of cassia cinnamon, so if you can find some, try it. For the tins: ideally they should be lined with soft rice paper which is edible- if you can’t find any, use non-stick baking paper.