Panforte (Sienese spiced fruit and nut cake)
A dense, chewy Christmas sweet from Siena, packed with toasted nuts, candied peel, honey and warm spices. Slice it thin with coffee.
- Time1 hr 10
- LevelMedium
- Costabout £0.59 a head
- Oven180°C (160°C fan)
Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.
Ingredients
Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Spread the almonds and hazelnuts on a tray and toast for 10 minutes until golden. If the hazelnuts have skins, rub them off in a clean tea towel. Turn the oven down to 150°C (130°C fan).
10 min - 2
Grease a 20 cm loose bottomed tin with the dairy free spread and line the base and sides with baking parchment.
- 3
In a large bowl, mix the toasted nuts, candied peel, figs, flour, cocoa and all the spices.
- 4
Put the caster sugar and honey in a small pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then boil gently for about 3 minutes, until it reaches a thick syrup that falls in ribbons. Take care, it is very hot.
3 min - 5
Pour the syrup over the nut mixture and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until everything is coated. It will be very sticky and stiff.
- 6
Press firmly into the tin with a damp spoon. Bake for 35 minutes. It will still feel soft but firms as it cools.
35 min - 7
Cool completely in the tin, lift out, peel off the paper and dust well with icing sugar. Keeps for weeks wrapped in foil.
Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.
