Desserts

Chocolate and fig Panforte

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Difficulty
Medium
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Preparation
30 min
schedule
Cook
10 - 15 min
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Serves
10 - 12

Panforte (comparable to Gingerbread) is a traditional Christmas dessert of Siena, spicy and very nutritious, circular in shape, low and compact. Traditional panforte  is a made with honey, nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, spices, candied fruit and it's flavoured with cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and coriander. Joana, a culinary enthusiast from Bulgaria, has sent her Panforte recipe with figs and chocolate. Thanks Joana!

[Photo credits: Joana Petrova]
[Photo credits: Joana Petrova]
Ingredients
  • 80g flour
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground star anise
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200g figs, chopped
  • 100g hazelnuts
  • 150g almonds
  • 100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1 orange zest
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 150g honey
  • 50g water
  • icing sugar to dust
Preparation
  • Preheat the oven to 150ºC . Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
  • Sift the flour, cinnamon and star anise. Add the figs, nuts, chocolate, orange zest and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
  • Place the sugar, honey and water in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and boil about 10-15 minutes, until the dough begins to thick.
  • Immediately pour the sugar mixture over the flour mixture and mix quickly with a wooden spoon until well combined.
  • Quickly spoon out the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 15 minutes.
  • Cool well before taking out of the pan.
  • Sprinkle generously with icing sugar.
  • Store in an airtight container.