Italian Christmas cake Panforte

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 1 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   How to bake Italian classic Panforte pie at home? Prepare all the necessary ingredients.

2. STEP 2

   

   Cut off the dense tails of dried figs and cut into small cubes along with dried apricots.

3. STEP 3

   

   Place the nuts in a dry frying pan and fry over low heat until light golden brown and rich in nutty aroma. By the way, you can first peel the almonds, but this is not necessary.

4. STEP 4

   

   Combine roasted nuts and chopped dried fruits in a deep container.

5. STEP 5

   

   Add sifted flour and gingerbread spices (I used a mixture of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, but you can use only cinnamon according to your taste). You may need a little less or more flour, check the consistency of the dough. Read more about the properties of flour in the article at the end of the recipe.

6. STEP 6

   

   Mix everything well.

7. STEP 7

   

   Prepare the syrup. To do this, combine water, sugar and liquid honey in a deep saucepan. If your honey is candied, then first melt it on the stove or in the microwave.

8. STEP 8

   

   Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring, bring the syrup to a boil (the sugar should completely dissolve) and cook for 2-3 minutes.

9. STEP 9

   

   Remove the syrup from the heat and, without letting it cool, immediately pour it into the mixture of nuts and dried fruits.

10. STEP 10

    

    Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the dough until smooth. The mass turns out to be very dense and viscous, so if you suddenly cannot knead it with a spoon, then let the mass cool a little (so as not to burn your hands) and knead the dough for Panforte with your hands.

11. STEP 11

    

    Line a tin with a diameter of 20 cm with high-quality (it is very important that the paper is really good, since such a cake sticks very easily and then it will be extremely difficult to separate it from the paper!) baking paper. Grease the paper with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Place the dough in the prepared pan and smooth the surface with your hands or a spatula. You will learn all the subtleties of choosing good baking paper by reading the article at the end of the recipe.

12. STEP 12

    

    Place the pan in an oven preheated to 150 C and bake Panforte for about 30 minutes, during which time the cake should thicken and the edges should dry out slightly. The times are approximate, use your technique. Read about the operation of different ovens in the article below the steps. Remove the finished pie from the oven and let it cool completely (I leave it on a wire rack right in the pan).

13. STEP 13

    

    Remove the cooled cake from the pan and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

14. STEP 14

    

    That's it, Panforte's Italian Christmas cake is ready. If desired, you can wrap it in paper and store it in a cool place for 6 months.

15. STEP 15

    

    Cut the Italian dessert Panforte into thin pieces and serve! Bon appetit!

Comments on the recipe

Maria

03.10.2023

5

While looking for new recipes, I liked the Italian classic Panforte pie. At home, I just found a handful of nuts and dried fruits to bake a half portion for testing. I expected that the honey and sugar would make the dessert sweet, but no, the sweetness is just right, the nuts smooth out the sweetness of the dried fruit well. And honey and sugar in combination with flour bind everything into one. The taste is like nothing else, it’s not kozinak, not Turkish delight... Indeed, as the author noted, it looks like soft roasted meat... There was no spice this time add (I wasn’t at home...), but I’ll definitely bake it with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in the future. Otherwise, I prepared everything in accordance with the author’s recommendations, adding raisins of my own. Cut dried apricots, figs and raisins into small cubes. I sprinkled it with flour. It’s a little hard to knead the mass with a silicone spatula, preferably a wooden one... And to even it out in the mold, I sprinkled it with flour, because... fingers began to stick. In my oven, the panforte was baked at 150°C for 35 minutes, until lightly browned. I took it out onto a wire rack to cool, the cake separated from the parchment well. It is quite dense, but does not crumble and is perfectly cut into thin slices. Everyone I really liked it! And if, individually, some of the children do not eat raisins..., some do not like figs. Then, in combination, everyone ate everything! I think this dessert can be prepared with any dried fruits and nuts... You can experiment! I highly recommend it to everyone! Thanks to the author!

Galina Peter

03.10.2023

4.6

I would eat it every day! Thank you, I will definitely try the recipe. I know and bake this pie when it comes to Christmas baking - stollen with raisins and nuts.

Ira

03.10.2023

4.9

✿AkT®iS@✿ Viola! The pie turned out great! Beauty, deliciousness and a storehouse of nutrients for the body! Thank you very much for this wealth for us, I will definitely prepare it.

Marjoram

03.10.2023

4.9

Ohoho! This is a pie, I’ve never seen it before, I looked and found it, they make it a little differently, I wonder what’s better?