Panforte is a typical Siena cake with a very basic meaning of ‘pane' meaning bread and ‘forte' meaning strong, so the end result being ‘strong bread'. This is what the soldiers carried around in their army packs, as it was sturdy and robust to withstand all the treatment during the days of fighting and running through the bushes. At the end of the day, they use to eat a small slice with their evening coffee which gave them energy. Traditionally the classic Paneforte is made without chocolate and eaten at Christmas time, but I think this works nicely with chocolate and don't be scared to change your dried fruits to give it more of an exotic taste - papaya, mango, pears, thread coconut.

135g roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
135g roasted blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
50g glazed or candied mango strips, cut into ½ cm bits
50g glazed or candied pineapple rings, cut into 12 segments
50g glazed or candied apricots, cut into slices ½ cm in thickness
65g finely chopped mixed peel
75g strong bread flour
15g cocoa powder
95g sugar
130g honey
65g melted dark chocolate

Makes one 20cm round cake


Method:

1. To roast the hazelnuts, spread them on a baking tray and place in a preheated oven set at 180°C for 10 – 15 minutes.

2. Cool, and rub the skins from the hazelnuts in a clean tea towel.

3. Toast the blanched almonds until very a very pale golden colour, 10 – 15 minutes. Take care not to cook the nuts to long, as they continue to cook for a few minutes after they come out of the oven.

4. Coarsely chop the hazelnuts and almonds.

5. Mix the nuts, glazed fruits, mixed peel, cocoa powder and flour thoroughly together in a large bowl.

6. Place the sugar and honey in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the mixture reaches 116 - 118°C (soft ball) on a candy thermometer (or drop a little of the mixture into cold water and it should form a ball when rubbed between your fingers).

7. Remove from the heat and stir in the melted chocolate until well combined, then immediately pour the chocolate syrup into the nuts, fruits and flour mixture and stir quickly using a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined.

8. Working quickly, place the mixture into a 20cm spring form cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin by dipping the top of your hand in warm water and patting the mixture smooth and level. The mixture will cool quickly and become very stiff, so work very fast.

9. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared tin by dipping the top of your hand in warm water and patting the mixture smooth and level. Again work quickly to prevent the mixture from becoming stiff.

9. Put the cake tin onto a baking tray and place in a preheated oven set at 170°C – 180°C and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

10. The panforte won't colour or seem very firm even after baking, but will harden as it cools. Cool in the tins until the firm.

11. Remove from the tin and remove the greaseproof paper. Wrap in cellophane and tie a ribbon around.

Note: Different sizes can be made, just adjust your baking time to suit.