Siena’s Christmas Panpepato:
Panpepato of Siena or Panforte Nero is a famous and historical sweet making in Tuscany during Christmas Time. The origin is medieval (Panforte in Latin means Acid Bread) and at first it was made with fresh fruits in convents that were receiving the ingredients as payment method for taxes. In the 1700s, fresh fruits were replaced with dried fruits to preserve longer the product, improving also the taste. In 1887, during a visit of Marguerite, Queen of Savoy, Panforte was enriched with candied melon and orange and dusted with icing sugar (Panforte Margherita). Enjoy your Panpepato!
Ingredients for a non stick round tray (16 cm):
200 g candied melon, 25 g candied orange peel, 175 g of sugar, 175 g blanched almonds, 75 g pastry flour (sifted), spices mix (3 g ground coriander, 1 g ground mace, 1 g ground cloves, 1 g ground nutmeg, 3 g ground cinnamon, 3 g ground black pepper, 50 g water.
For garnish:
3 g ground cinnamon, 2 g ground coriander, 15 g pastry flour.
For dusting:
15 g icing sugar.
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 180°C. In a nonstick pot, melt sugar and water until you obtain a sugar syrup (not caramel). In the meantime, in a kitchen container put all ingredients, stirring fine. Pour in a little at time the sugar syrup until you obtain a viscose dough. Put in round tray, pressing lightly with a rubber spatula. Garnish with spices and flour (sifted). Bake in the oven to 180°C for 30 min. Bring out and cool down. Dust with icing sugar. The Panpepato will keep at room temperature for about 5-6 days.
