Panforte was among the new recipes I wanted to try this year. It's a traditional Italian Christmas cake, combining candied fruit and different kinds of nuts with honey, sugar, and spices. As the name suggests, it's very rich - and it keeps well, even several months.I had a stash of different nuts I had bought still back in Germany, and I thought this would be an ideal purpose for using them. I had read that the traditional panforte from Sienna combines 17 different ingredients, because the city of Sienna has 17 districts.
So I chose the following 17 ingredients: pine nuts, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, honey, butter, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and Cointreau and adapted my recipe from that of Nigella.
All seemed to be perfect - the batter, the smell, and the taste and texture of my panforte just after I'd taken it out of the oven (I made four small ones and thought we'd eat the first one right away). It was like chocolate fudge and different nuts married with ginger bread! Heavenly indeed...
...until the disaster happened: as soon as the three other panforte cakes had cooled, it became clear that they could only be eaten by a robot or anyone else having their teeth replaced by chain saws.
I even tried to soak one of them in hot water with some honey in it, but the only thing that happened was that some of the chocolate dissolved in the water - and the panforte itself was still totally inedible (at least for a human being with a normal set of teeth).
The mistake might have been that I kept the panforte too long in the oven - although they were still very soft when I took them out; anyway, too many precious ingredients are now on their way to a landfill site for me to try panforte any time soon :(
Such a disappointment that they didn't turn out well, but I give you credit for trying to make them in the first place!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was :( So many good ingredients wasted.. but at least next time I'll be more careful with the oven time!
ReplyDeleteThree years ago, I failed miserably at panforte--I had to break it in half with my hands. From the little bit I could taste, it was worth retrying. Last year, I did try again--and it was much better. I came to the same conclusion as you--watch the cooking time! It is already chewy, and overcooking it at all means it can't be eaten. http://bjj-law-living.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-joy-of-presents-at-two-and-flavors.html#more
ReplyDeleteOh, yours looks perfect!! I'll have to give it a try next year - if not before ;)
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