Honey
Black Pepper
Coffee
This interesting group of ingredients are the ones that must be included in the entries for this month's Royal Foodie Joust competition.
Inspiration finally struck at the weekend, not leaving me much time to create and photograph my entry as the deadline is today! Nevertheless after a quick trip to the shops I had all the ingredients ready to prepare my version of the Italian classic, Panforte, a sweet sticky cake filled with fruit, nuts and spices. It is normally dusted with icing sugar but as it is sweet enough already I decided to dip each slice in dark chocolate just to off set the sweetness slightly.
Makes 16 slices
250g Dates
2 Oranges
50g Honey
50g Dark Muscovado Sugar
1/2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Ground Cardamom
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
125g Dried Apricots, chopped
125g Dried Figs, chopped
50g Hazelnuts
50g Blanched Almonds
50g Pecans
60g Ground Almonds
60ml Tia Maria or other coffee liqueur
100g Dark Chocolate
Pre-heat the oven to 150ºC/Fan 130ºC and line a 20cm (8") square tin with baking parchment.
Place the dates in a pan with the finely grated zest of 1 orange and the juice of 2 oranges. Next add the honey, sugar and all the spices. Cook over a moderate heat for about 10 minutes or until the dates have disintegrated and a thick sticky paste has formed.
Add the rest of the ingredients except for the chocolate and mix well. Pour into the tin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Cook for between 30-45 minutes or until the top looks cooked. It sets as it cools so it will still be quite soft when it is hot.
Leave to cool and then leave place in the fridge overnight. This makes it easier to slice. If you're short of time several hours in the freezer works just as well!
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, then leave to cool slightly. Cut the Panforte into 16 thin slices and dip the bottom half of each slice in the chocolate. Place on a sheet of baking parchment and leave to set. Use any remaining chocolate to drizzle over the top of the Panforte slices.
Serve as the Italians do with either coffee or liqueurs.
