Panforte de Siena
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Panforte
- 150 g almonds rounded
- 150 g hazelnuts rounded
- 200 g candied orange peel, chopped rounded
- 100 g dried figs, chopped rounded
- 100 g flour rounded
- 8 g ground cinnamon rounded
- 3 g ground cloves rounded
- 3 g ground white pepper rounded
- 150 g sugar rounded
- 150 g honey rounded
- 30 g powdered sugar, for dusting rounded
Method
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan). Toast the almonds and hazelnuts on a sheet for 10 minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant. Let cool, then roughly chop.
- Line a 20 cm round tin with parchment or edible rice paper.
- Combine the toasted nuts, candied orange peel, figs, flour, cinnamon, cloves and white pepper in a large bowl.
- Heat the sugar and honey together in a pot over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Clip on a candy thermometer and cook, without stirring, until it reaches 115 to 118°C, the soft-ball stage.
- Pour the hot syrup over the nut mixture immediately and stir quickly to combine, before it begins to set.
- Press firmly into the prepared tin, smoothing the top with wet hands or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until just set but still slightly soft in the centre; it will firm up as it cools. Let cool completely in the tin before turning out. Dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Cook the syrup to a precise soft-ball stage, not by guesswork. Underdone syrup sets too soft to slice cleanly; overdone syrup hardens the panforte into something closer to brittle candy. A thermometer takes the guesswork out entirely.
- Toast the nuts before mixing them in. Raw nuts folded straight into the hot syrup taste comparatively flat against the concentrated sweetness of the fruit and honey; toasting first gives them enough depth to hold their own.
- Work quickly once the hot syrup is poured over the nuts. It begins to set within moments, and getting everything pressed into the tin before it stiffens is what gives a dense, even texture rather than lumps.
- It keeps for weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, and the flavour actually improves after a few days as the spices settle.
Ingredient substitutions
- Any mix of nuts and dried fruit can be used in similar proportions, though almonds and hazelnuts with candied citrus are the classic Sienese combination.
- Edible rice paper on the base is traditional and can be left on when serving, if used.
- Serve in thin wedges, since panforte is very dense and rich.