Antonelle’s panforte

PANFORTE (meaning ‘strong bread’) is found in all Sienese patisserie shops. It is a firm, chewy cake packed with nuts and spices.

SERVES: 10–12 Ingredients

100g (scant 1 cup) ‘00’ flour, plus extra for tin and jar 150g (1 cup) almonds, skin on 125g caster sugar

3 tbsp mild honey

150g mixture of candied cedro and/or candied orange peel, finely diced

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

FOR THE SPICE RUB:

1 tsp icing sugar ¼ tsp finely ground black peppercorns ¼ tsp coriander seeds ¼ tsp ground cinnamon Pinch of finely grated nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment and sprinkle a little flour over it. Put a little extra flour on a small plate and set aside.

Get a heavy-bottomed glass jar ready.

Put the almonds on a baking tray and roast them for 5 minutes until they start to darken in colour and the skins start to crack. Remove from the oven and set aside. Leave the oven on.

Put the sugar, 2 tablespoons of water and honey into a saucepan and place over a medium–high heat for 5–7 minutes until the mixture reaches 105C on a sugar thermometer, or until the mixture is gently bubbling.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, including the toasted almonds, and stir for 3 minutes. It will be tough to stir but it is important to warm up the flour, so keep stirring until the time is up. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin.

Dip the bottom of the glass jar into the flour on the plate and use it to bash the mixture down and flatten it into the tin. Do this quickly before it sets.

Transfer the panforte to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.

When cool, remove the panforte from the tin and peel off the baking parchment.

Combine the ingredients for the spice rub in a bowl. Scatter it over the panforte to coat it evenly on both sides.

It will keep if dry and covered at room temperature for a couple of weeks.

Serve in small slices as it is very rich.

The recipes on this page are from Tuscany by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi, published by Hardie Grant Books, $49.99 and available in stores nationally.