I first encountered this dish in Florence, Italy, and instantly fell in love with it. A delicious dessert and accompaniment to a cup of coffee is panforte (“strong bread”). I created my own recipe after experimenting with a few others, and many people like it.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 30 |
| Yield: | 30 servings |
Ingredients
- 5 ounces honey
- 4 ounces white sugar
- 3 ounces chopped pine nuts
- 3 ounces chopped walnuts
- 3 ounces chopped almonds
- 3 ounces chopped candied pineapple
- 3 ounces chopped crystallized ginger
- 3 ounces chopped dried dates
- 2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅓ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, or as needed for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line an 8- or 9-inch baking pan with a removable bottom with rice paper or parchment paper, including the sides.
- Combine honey and sugar in a small pan over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Bring to a gentle boil, and do not stir once syrup begins to boil. Heat to 240 degrees F (115 degrees C) or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and stir in pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, pineapple, ginger, dates, cocoa powder, coriander, allspice, and nutmeg. Mixture will be very stiff.
- Press mixture into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and place pan on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Remove panforte from the baking pan and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
- You can slice and store in an airtight container.