Panforte di Siena

Panforte, also known as Siena Cake is nutty, soft and just perfect as an after dinner treat. It’s usually served at Christmas gatherings but my philosophy is, Christmas is to be celebrated every day so go ahead and indulge in this deliciously good cake.

Serves a crowd

1 cup blanched almonds, roasted and roughly chopped

1 cup hazelnuts, roasted and roughly chopped

1/2 cup dried apricots, diced

1/2 cup bread flour

2 tablespoons cacao

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

100g dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup honey

icing sugar, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 160*C. Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine nuts, fruit, sifted flour, cacao and spices.

3. Place chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan simmering with water. In a separate saucepan add sugar and honey and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, turn heat to low and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes without stirring.

4. Add melted chocolate and syrup to nut mixture, stirring until well combined.

5. Transfer to lined baking tin, pressing mixture firmly and evenly with a spatula. Bake in over for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before turning out and sifting with icing sugar. Slice thinly before serving.