panpepato, panforte nero
origin: siena toscane. you can make it 2-3 weeks beforehand.
good company for the coffee with wiskey or cognac after the christmas dinner
this is the peppered version I made last year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9191909@N07/2123050882/ [1]
preheat oven at 175°C
-500 g mixed nuts: almond, hazelnut, walnut. chopped coarsely and roasted lightbrown in oven.
-2 tablespoons mixed spices: cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, ginger
-1 teaspoon white pepper
-500 g mixed fruit: dried fig, dried apricot, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel chopped coarsely.
-½ cup AP flour
mix all ingredients
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-1 cup sugar
-½ cup honey
-75 gr noir de noir chocolate
-and a bit water
in a thick walled pan. heat very very slow, don't burn the chocolate!
stirr till the sugar becomes a bit stiff ( but not caramelized!!!)
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from the fire, now stirr in the nut- and fruit-mix.
put the mass in a baking tray (20 cm) with bakingpaper and smooth the surface with a wet spoon or knife.
20-30 minutes in oven at 175°C.
the panpepato is brown already and further browning is no good. so cover with alu-foil if necessary.
notes:
-don't use too much nutmeg
-make your own candied peels the day before. they taste better.
-don't burn the chocolate!!! or add it after cooking the sugar and before mixing in the nut- & fruitmix.
-the mixed spices and the pepper fine grounded (powder) not coarse.
-panpepato is normally decorated with powdered sugar (but I don't like the ugly taste of raw sugar)