Panforte – Tuscan Fruit and Nut Cake

Panforte di Siena – a Tuscan Christmas cake made with candied fruit, nuts, festive spices and dusted with powdered sugar. This dense and chewy fruitcake is such a good Christmas treat and perfecting for gifting!

As soon as you bite into panforte it instantly tastes of Christmas, the combination of warming spices, candied fruit and nuts make the most good festive treat.

Like Ricciarelli (probably our fav Christmas cookie) this cake is from Siena, Tuscany, and was originally derived from Panpepato (another good Christmas cake) due to the strong spices and pepper used.

After living in Siena for 2 years we tasted a lot of panforte and there are so many variations, we loved seeing the displays of it in bakery windows all wrapped in beautiful paper for gifting.

This recipe is easy to make at home and lasts up to 3 weeks (possibly longer) so it's suited to wrapping up as a Christmas gift for your friends and family but trust us, you'll want to keep some for yourself too it's too good to resist.

Interested in Italian Christmas food? Check out our Traditional Italian Christmas Foods post to learn more about what Italians eat at Christmas in each Italian region.

Ingredients – what you need

To make panforte you need flour (Italian 00 or all-purpose flour)mixed nuts (we used blanched almonds and hazelnuts)candied mixed peel, runny honey, sugar, spices (ground cinnamon, coriander, cloves, and nutmeg)and powdered sugar for dusting.

The essential equipment you need to make panforte is a springform cake pan (we used a 7.5 inch)baking parchment or rice paper and a silicone spatula for mixing the sticky honey mixture.

See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need!

How to make Panforte – step by step

Mix the flour, spices, nuts and candied peel in a large mixing bowl, set aside (photos 1 & 2).

In a large pot or Dutch Oven add the sugar and honey on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is slightly bubbling (photos 3 & 4).

Turn the heat down low and add the flour and nut mixture to the honey, stir it quickly until it is thoroughly combined. It will be sticky so a silicone spatula works best for this (photos 5 & 6).

Once combined, spoon the mixture into the cake pan and smooth it out as you best you can (photo 7).

Put in the oven and bake the panforte for 35 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely (photo 8).

Once cooled remove from the cake pan and parchment paper and dust heavily with powdered sugar. Slice and serve or store for later.

Top tips and recipe FAQs

• Line your cake pan first – traditionally panforte is made using rice paper but we find that baking parchment works as well make sure you line it all the way up the sides so it's easy to remove. If you use rice paper you don't need to remove it as it's edible.
• Work fast – when you add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture you need to stir to combine everything and place it in the cake pan relatively fast because as the honey cools it will start to harden making it much harder to work with.
• Use a silicone spatula – this makes it so much easier to stir the sticky panforte mixture because the silicone spatula is non-stick.
• Let it cool – let the panforte cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar or it'll dissolve. You also want it to be completely cooled before slicing.
• Gift it – wrap your Panforte di Siena in wax paper with a pretty ribbon and gift it to your family and friends for Christmas.

What's the best nuts to use?

You can use any nuts you like to make panforte. We like to use blanched almonds and hazelnuts and we sometimes add in unsalted pistachios which are good too.

How long does it last?

Panforte lasts for quite a long time making it great for gifting. Wrap in plastic wrap and store it in a cookie tin or container for up to 3 weeks.

Can we freeze it?

Yes, it freezes well. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil or in a container and freeze. Let it thaw completely before serving.

More Italian Christmas desserts

• Chocolate Salami (Salame di Cioccolato)
• Pandoro Christmas Tree Cake (Italian Christmas Cake)
• Struffoli – Italian Honey Balls
• Panettone Bombe – Christmas Ice Cream Cake
• Panettone Bread Pudding

Ingredients

Makes 15 servings

• 1 cup Italian 00 or all-purpose flour ((140g))
• 1 cup sugar ((200g))
• 3 cups mixed nuts (we used almonds and hazelnuts (300g))
• 1 heaped cup candied mixed peel ((200g))
• ½ cup runny honey ((150g))
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• a pinch of nutmeg

For serving

• powdered sugar ((icing sugar))

Equipment

• 7-8 inch cake pan
• Silicone spatula (the mixture is very sticky so I really recommend using this)
• Non-stick baking parchment

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).

2. Line a 7-8 inch cake pan with parchment paper making sure you line both the bottom and the sides. To help the baking parchment stick to the cake pan you can rub a little butter or spray a little oil on the cake pan first.

3. Mix the flour, spices, nuts and candied peel in a large mixing bowl, set aside.

4. In a large pot or Dutch Oven add the sugar and honey on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is slightly bubbling.

5. Turn the heat down low and add the flour and nut mixture to the honey, stir it quickly until it is thoroughly combined. It will be very sticky so a silicone spatula works best for this.

6. Once combined, spoon the mixture into the cake pan and smooth it out as you best you can.

7. Put in the oven and bake the panforte for 35 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely.

8. Once cooled remove from the cake pan and parchment paper and dust heavily with powdered sugar.

9. Slice and serve or store for later.

Kitchen notes

• Line your cake pan first traditionally panforte is made using rice paper but we find that baking parchment works as well make sure you line it all the way up the sides so it's easy to remove. If you use rice paper you don't need to remove it as it's edible.
• Work fast when you add the dry ingredients to the honey mixture you need to stir to combine everything and place it in the cake pan relatively fast because as the honey cools it will start to harden making it much harder to work with.
• Use a silicone spatula this makes it so much easier to stir the sticky panforte mixture because the silicone spatula is non-stick.
• Let it cool let the panforte cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar or it'll dissolve. You also want it to be completely cooled before slicing.
• Gift it wrap your Panforte di Siena in wax paper with a pretty ribbon and gift it to your family and friends for Christmas.
• Storage this keeps well in an airtight container wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 3 weeks or can be frozen. If freezing thaw completely before serving.