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Panforte - Italian Christmas Cake
This is not your typical cake. Panforte is a dense, chewy Italian delight loaded with nuts, dried fruits, and spices. It's a Christmas favourite that's easy to make, but be sure to line your tin well because it’s super sticky! It stays tasty for days and makes a lovely homemade gift when wrapped up nicely.Servings
Total
35 minPrep
15 minCook
20 minContains
tree nut
gluten
Free from
soy
peanut
sesame
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🌟 RECIPE UPDATE: Based on feedback, and to improve this recipe, we added some flour and decreased the amount of sugar. We hope you enjoy the updated version! 💛 xo, Sadia (18 Jan 2025)
I really wanted to like this recipe as I’ve been to Siena and loved panforte when I tried it there. However, I don’t like it and I think it needs improvement.
While I didn’t have the issue of sugar setting, I think both the consistency and the sugar level are far off the mark.
This is way too sweet - at least for my taste. There is nothing to cut through the sweetness. The spices definitely hit the notes of panforte, so that’s right, but the sugar is too overpowering!
The consistency is also more like packed candied nuts than a firm cake as the candied fruit didn’t dissolve into what looks like a paste in the pictures.
Most Italian language recipes I found ask for the addition of water and 00 flour. I wonder if that would fix the issues.
I had the same issue Dmitrii did. I suspect it could have been because I used brown sugar instead of granulated. I added like 15 minutes or so to the cook time. And maybe could have gone longer. It felt like the recipe would have benefited from adding flour for textures sake. Despite the hiccups, the flavors were absolutely on point! The candied citrus peel recipe worked really well too. Everyone enjoyed it. Thanks!
Sugar didn’t stick for some reason . It’s been rather boiling in the oven. So at the end I got a substance to eat with spoon instead of a cake 😂