Pan Forte

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I was channel surfing, when I saw this and it looked so yummy.

I'm thinking it's really smart food. It lasts a long time; it's easy to make; it sounds absolutely delicious and, with a glass of milk, it's a complete meal. In tiny portions, of course! It would pack well, too, as a sack lunch.

I'm not putting any filberts/hazelnuts in it. I hate them. I'll just use the equivelent in extra almonds.

I also won't dust with powdered sugar.

It can be made either with or without chocolate.

I think corn flour sounds better...and probably more authentic?...than wheat.

Since honey's expensive, I can substitute SOME corn syrup, but reduce the sugar to JUST enough to bind it.

The one I saw on TV was made with lots of candied fruits, including candied melon. It was a green melon. This fascinated me; I'd never considered candying melon before! What a wonderful idea! In summer, I get absolutely sick of eating cheap or homegrown melons. This way, I can perserve them for winter!

I'm including 2 recipes here. One's a lahdeedah recipe that SEEMS to bear scant resemblence to old fashioned techniques, but which has some good tips and interesting ingredients.

But I'm also including what appears to be a quite old recipe. It's the one that calls for corn flour. It's ingredients are more simple. I'll bet you that's someone's gramma's recipe, straight from the Old Country.

New recipe, first:

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From: Siena@deleted
Subject: Pan Forte di Siena
Newsgroup: rec.food.recipes

Pan Forte di Siena

Ciao Italia by Maryann Esposito -

One of the most famous cakes of Siena is its Panforte, which means "strong bread." It is chewy, dense, and perfumed with cinnamon and pepper. It is sold in flat rounds, brightly wrapped in paper, or by the piece. Sadly, this cake is rarely made in homes nowadays, and most panforte is commercially produced.

Panforte di Siena
2/3 Cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chopped candied orange peel 1/2 cup chopped candied lemon peel
1/4 cup dutch-process cocoa
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
confectioner's (icing) sugar
Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch cake pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 325 F. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely with the almonds. Put the nuts in a bowl and add the candied peels, cocoa, flour, and spices; mix well. Set aside. In a saucepan, combine the sugar and honey and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until a bit of the mixture forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Spread the batter evenly in the pan; the cake will be no more than about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. While still warm, invert the cake onto a wire rack.

Carefully peel off the parchment and let cool completely. Sprinkle the top of the cake generously with confectioner's sugar. Serve cut in thin wedges. Note: I find using a well greased ceramic pie dish eliminates the need for parchment.
This cake will keep for at least 2 weeks if well wrapped in foil.

Original post by Kitka here

Old Recipe:

One question, though: wafers of WHAT? This is the problem with old recipes...

The Cook's Decameron: A Study In Taste. Containing Over Two Hundred Recipes For Italian Dishes; Mrs. W. G. Waters
Chapter: No. 224.
Pan-forte di Siena
(Sienese Hardbake)

Ingredients: Honey, almonds, filberts, candied lemon peel, pepper, cinnamon, chocolate, corn flour, large wafers.

Boil half a pound of honey in a copper vessel, and then add to it a few blanched almonds and filberts cut in halves or quarters and slightly browned, a little candied lemon peel, a dust of pepper and powdered cinnamon and a quarter pound of grated chocolate. Mix all well together, and gradually add a tablespoonful of corn flour end two of ground almonds to thicken it.

Then take the vessel off the fire, spread the mixture on large wafers, and make each cake about an inch thick. Garnish them on the top with almonds cut in half, and dust over a little powdered sugar and cinnamon, then put them in a very slow oven for an hour.


See? That last recipe is so dang simple! If I only knew what a friggin' wafer was...hmmm...

And I don't have a copper pot. Always wanted one, too. I'd like to have one for egg white whipping.

Anyway, that SOUNDS like an old gramma recipe, doesn't it? As though even telling you how to make it is a ridiculous waste of time, because, of course, EVERYBODY knows how to make Pan Forte; they're BORN knowing how!

LOL

But doesn't that sound a helluva lot nicer than a granola bar???? It's basically baked trail mix!