Panpepato, Christmas Spiced Cake

Panpepato is a good Christmas spiced chocolate cake from Ferrara Emilia Romagna. It's made with lots of chopped nuts, dried fruit, honey and black pepper and is topped with lots of melted dark chocolate. It's so good, festive and easy to make.

Panpepato is a good Christmas spiced cake that dates back to the Renaissance. Its name translates as 'peppered bread' and refers to the freshly ground black pepper that's added. It might sound odd but it gives a good yet subtle warmth to it which we love.

Panpepato has its origins in both Terni Umbria and Ferrara Emilia Romagna but what's interesting is that this is the original cake that developed into Panforte di Siena when it was brought to Tuscany. The pepper was removed and a lot more dried fruit was added.

We love this Christmassy treat, it's dense and slightly chewy, packed full of chocolate, nuts and has little hints of fruit and spices.

Not only is it good but it's easy to make and lasts for ages, solid alongside a hot drink on a cold day.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Dark chocolate – 70% cocoa is best for this recipe. If you're not a fan of dark chocolate we still recommend using it for the cake itself then switch to either milk or white chocolate for topping.
• Flour – we use Italian 00 flour but all-purpose flour will work as well.
• Candied orange – you can use any candied fruit you like.
• Ground spices – cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon. You can adapt this recipe using a spice level you love.
• Black pepper – an important ingredient! We highly recommend using freshly ground black pepper and not pre-ground extra fine pepper as it doesn't taste as good.

Step by step photos and instructions

This is a visual guide to help you with each step. For the full written recipe, ingredient amounts and tips scroll to the recipe card below.

1. Prep – put the raisins in a small bowl or ramekin and cover them with hot water. Let them soak for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven (180C/350F) and line a baking tray with parchment.
2. Chop nuts – roughly chop the nuts, you can do this with a knife or give them a few pulses in a food processor (photo 1).
3. Melt the honey – add the honey to a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of water from the raisins. Heat it gently until the texture turns from thick and sticky to more runny and liquidy. This only takes 1-2 minutes (photo 2).

1. Add chocolate – turn off the heat then add the chopped chocolate to the hot honey. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes then stir it until completely combined and melted (photos 3 and 4).
2. Add nuts and fruit – next, add the chopped nuts and candied orange to the chocolate. Squeeze out the water from the raisins and add them too, mix until combined (photos 5-7).

1. Add flour and spices – combine the spices, pepper and flour together in a bowl then add it to the chocolate mixture. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined (photo 8).
2. Shape and bake – dump the mixture in a mound in the middle of a lined baking tray. Using damp hands, shape the mixture into a dome then press down to flatten the top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, remove and let it cool completely (photos 9-12).

1. Topping – once the Pampepato is completely cool, melt some dark chocolate in a saucepan or bain marie and pour it over the cake. Let the chocolate set then cut into slices.

Italian Desserts

Panforte – Tuscan Fruit and Nut Cake

Christmas

Italian Almond Cookies (Ricciarelli)

Italian Cookies

Cuccidati (Italian Fig Cookies)

Italian Desserts

Struffoli – Italian Honey Balls

Ingredients

Makes 15 servings

• 110 g (1/3 cup) runny honey
• 40 g (1/4 cup) raisins soaked
• 75 g (1/2 cup) whole hazelnuts
• 75 g (1/2 cup) whole blanched almonds
• 55 g (1/2 cup) walnuts
• 1 tablespoon raisin liquid
• 40 g (1/4 cup) chopped candied orange peel ((or candied fruit of choice))
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves ((see notes))
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 95 g (3/4 cup) 00 flour
• 100 g (3.5oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa, chopped)

Topping

• 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Put the raisins in a small bowl or ramekin and cover them with hot water. Let them soak for 10-15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, roughly chop all the nuts then set aside. You can also do this by pulsing them in a food processor for a couple of seconds.

4. Heat the honey in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of the raisin water until the consistency has gone from thick and sticky to thin and runny (this only takes 1 minute or so). Don't let it boil.

5. Once runny, turn off the heat and add 100g of chopped dark chocolate. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes then stir it until completely melted and combined.

6. Add the chopped nuts to the chocolate with the chopped candied peel. Squeeze the liquid out of the raisins then add them to the mixture and stir to coat everything in chocolate.

7. Mix the flour with all the spices and black pepper then add that to the chocolate. Stir until well combined and the flour is completely absorbed.

8. Dump the mixture in a mound on a lined baking tray. Using damp hands, shape the mixture into a dome then push it down so the top of the panpepato is flat.

9. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let the Panpepato cool completely.

Topping

1. Once cooled, melt the remaining dark chocolate in a small saucepan or use a bain marie. Pour the melted chocolate over the Panpepato and let it set.

2. Once set, cut into slices and enjoy!

Kitchen notes

• Ground cloves this is a strong and fragrant spice which some like more than others. We recommend adding 1/8 teaspoon at first then when everything is incorporated taste the mixture and if the cloves are too subtle sprinkle over another 1/8 teaspoon and mix it in.
• Recommendation Use a kitchen scale to weigh all ingredients for best results.
• Shaping the cake use damp hands to shape the cake to stop it sticking to your hands. We do this by rinsing our hands then half-drying them with a towel (you don't want to add a lot of water either).
• Spices You can adjust the amount of spices to taste. Nutmeg and cloves are fragrant and strong in flavour. We originally tested this recipe with ¼ teaspoon of each and it was too much.
• Black pepper Use freshly ground black pepper for best results, we find that pre-ground black pepper has an odd taste.
• Decorate the cake after pouring on the melted chocolate you can decorate the top of the cake with more candied fruit and nuts to make it look pretty. Leave them to set in the chocolate.
• Storage wrap the Panpepato in foil and store it in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Defrost it fully at room temperature before serving.