The Dolce Vita Diaries

It’s all very well going out and buying your loved one a Fellini box-set for Christmas, but we all know there’s nothing to beat a homemade gift – and a home-baked one is really the king of the castle.

One of our favourite presents-you-can-cook is panforte (literally ‘strong bread’) – a fruity, nutty, chewy, sweet little number from Tuscany. It’s been around some 800 years and used to be used as currency to pay the monks of the local monastery when they demanded tax on the seventh of February each year. Rumours that this novel ‘cake payment’ method is to be brought back as an alternative to million pound bonuses to city bankers are sadly completely false.

But we think that with a puff of icing sugar and all wrapped up pretty, this is a gift that will look and taste like at least a million dollars.

Ingredients

Blanched hazelnuts – 90g/3oz

Blanched almonds – 90g/3oz

Candied peel (lemon, orange and lime) – 200g/7oz

Plain flour – 60g/2oz

Cocoa powder – 25g/1oz

Ground cinnamon, clove and nutmeg – a big pinch of each

Caster sugar – 150g/5.3oz

Clear honey – 125g/5.3oz

Preheat oven to 150°C/300ºF.  Butter and line an 8-inch flan ring tray with parchment paper or bake-o-glide. In a large bowl, combine the nuts, candied peel, the sifted flour, cocoa and spices. Mix it good and proper. Put the sugar and honey in a saucepan, turn on to a medium heat, stirring as the sugar melts. When it starts to boil (about 8-10 mins) take it off the heat. Working quickly, pour the syrup over your nut mixture, and mix it thoroughly. The panforte will stiffen quickly, so immediately spoon the mixture into your baking tray and spread it out evenly. Bake for 30 minutes then turn it onto a wire rack, peel off the paper, take it out and let it completely cool. Wrap and store at room temperature.