Hazelnut Paneforte with Candied Orange

In honor of my Italian roots, I decided to make a very traditional Christmas treat that can be found in nearly every Italian household during the holidays, the Paneforte. The name translates literally as “strong bread,” which is actually a lighter version of the often joked about, incredibly dense fruitcake. This paneforte is dominated by hazelnuts and only two kinds of candied fruits rather than five or six, and has a scant amount of flour, making it more like a nougat and less like its American brick-like counterpart.

I love this recipe because it is so easy to make, it’s not overly sweet and is a gorgeous centerpiece. The candied oranges are essential as they harmonize the cloves, cinnamon and white pepper perfectly.

Merry Christmas!!!

Hazelnut Pane Forte

1 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup raw hazelnuts, roughly hopped
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sweet sorghum flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
1 ½ teaspoons guar gum
pinch of kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup acacia honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup diced candied citron
8 candied orange slices
powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast 1 cup of the hazelnuts on a jellyroll pan for 5-7 min.

Remove from the oven and pour on top of the remaining cup of hazelnuts. Toss lightly with a wooden spoon. Reduce oven to 300°F. Spray a 9” spring form pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts in a food processor.

Mix all the dry ingredients, except the sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the hazelnuts and the candied citron and mix to break up the bits of fruit.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the sugar, honey and butter. Whisk to dissolve the sugar. Using a candy thermometer, heat until the mixture boils to 239°F. This happens very quickly, in about 3 minutes, so don’t leave the pot unattended. Immediately pour the boiling sugar over the dry ingredients and mix rapidly with a wooden spoon. You may need to knead the dough until all the dry ingredients are absorbed, which is totally normal, but be careful as the mixture is hot at first, but cools very quickly.

Press the dough into your prepared pan and line the top of the cake with the candied orange slices.

Bake at 300°F for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Remove from the pan and peel off the parchment before slicing to serve.

Dust with a scant amount of powdered sugar for garnish.

Keeps well wrapped in cello for 2 weeks.

Serves 8

Photo by Knoxy