Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Cookbook Challenge - Week 6 - Christmas - Part 1


For my first Christmas post I made a panforte which I have never made before.  For some strange, unknown reason I was dying to make one this year so even though I couldnt find a recipe in my gazillions of cookbooks I bent the rules a little & used a recipe from the Donna Hay Christmas magazine issue.  I am also hosting Christmas day for 20 adults plus a few kiddies so if I dont forget in all the mayhem to take photos I will write about my feast day too.

Back to the panforte, this version used dried apricots, almonds, hazelnuts & some mixed spice.  After looking at a few recipes it seems that most have figs which I love too so next time will have to try a fig version.  I really liked the combination of fruit & nuts in this recipe & enjoyed the panforte which so far has lasted 5 days between Michael, Chloe myself & a few guests too, the fact that it is so dense & chewy makes it perfect for resisting & sticking to only a small portion at a time.

Panforte - recipe from the 2009 Donna Hay Christmas issue

1/2 cup (75g) plain flour, sifted
2 tablespoons cocoa. sifted
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 cup (150g) chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup (120g) roasted almonds, halved
1 cup (140g) roasted hazelnuts, halved
200g dark chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (230g) honey
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1/4 cup (45g) brown sugar
icing sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 180c.  Place flour, cocoa, spice, apricot, almonds and hazelnuts in a bowl & mix to combine.  Place chocolate, honey, caster and brown sugars in a saucepan over low heat & stir until chocolate has melted.  Pour into the flour mixture and mix well to combine.  Press into a lightly greased 22cm round springform tin lined with non stick baking paper.  Cook for 30 minutes or until the centre is just firm.  Cool in the tin.  Cut into wedges & dust with icing sugar.

5 comments:

Rilsta @ My Food Trail said...

Yikes! Lunch for 20ppl plus kids?! Good luck!! I'm guessing you won't have time to take photos! Hope the lunch goes well and you have a great Christmas.

I've never made a panforte either and I don't think I have ever eaten one - it looks like a hedgehog slice! Looks great!

Ange said...

Rilsta, thanks, lunch shouldnt be too bad, I have people bring along the sides & bits & pieces to help out so if I can time the turkey & pork right it should be great, fingers crossed.

Unknown said...

hope you don't mind if I also link to my version...here in Tuscany we make it this way! slightly different, just as good. Congrats for sticking to the original! http://ow.ly/ORzJ

Agnes said...

The panforte looks fantastic - so dark and rich. Good luck with Christmas day!

penny aka jeroxie said...

looks yummy! I am sure that your party was a success!