Spiced Panforte Recipe: How to Make Panforte Nero

Panforte is a fruitcake made with nuts, spices, and candied fruit that’s especially popular for the Christmas holiday. “Panforte” means "strong bread" in Italian, and the traditional dessert gets its strength from spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper. You can serve this dense cake in thin wedges with coffee or tea.

Panforte comes in two main variations. Panforte bianco, also known as Margherita, is milder and topped with confectioners' sugar, while panforte nero is spicier and features a spice mixture and/or cocoa powder.

Panforte was developed during the twelfth century in Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy. Monasteries and convents accepted black pepper as a form of currency and used the surplus spices to make panforte. During the Medieval period, panforte was prepared at apothecaries and thought to have curative properties due to its concentration of spices. Panforte spread to other parts of Italy around the seventeenth century, but the name “panforte” first appeared in writing in the nineteenth century when the cake began to be exported on a larger scale.

The now-famous white panforte, which is less spicy than the original and dusted with confectioners' sugar, was developed in 1879 to honor Queen Margherita of Savoy, who visited Siena that year. In 2013, the European Commission granted protection of geographical indications to panforte di Siena.

You can make panforte in your kitchen using your choice of candied fruits and nuts. Still, according to its geographical indication, authentic panforte di Siena has to be made by a skilled panfortaio in the Province of Siena and must contain these essential ingredients:

1. 1. Flour: In Italy, panforte features type 0 flour, containing 11 to 12 percent protein, about the same as all-purpose flour in the United States.
2. 2. Candied fruit: In Italy, canditores turn dried fruit into confections. Panforte traditionally features bright green candied citron, candied melon, and candied orange peel.
3. 3. Nuts: Traditional panforte features unpeeled whole almonds. Ground hazelnuts are permitted in white panforte, and panfotaios can add walnuts to the nut mixture in dark panforte.
4. 4. Sweeteners and flavorings: Before refined sugar was widely available in Europe, panfortes were sweetened entirely with honey. Today, flavorings include sugar and wildflower honey, vanilla, and caramel.
5. 5. Spices: Nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, red or black pepper, coriander, cloves, star anise, ginger, allspice, and chili powder are all acceptable additions to panforte. Keep in mind that the white version should have fewer spices than the dark version of the cake.