Panforte di Siena recipe - Italian Notes (2024)

FAQs

What is a panforte di Siena? ›

Dating back to the Middle Ages, Panforte di Siena is a flat cake containing spices and candied fruit, which is usually enjoyed during the Christmas festivities in Italy. The moment you sink your teeth into the first slice, you realize that this is a very ancient recipe.

Literally, panforte means 'strong bread', derived from the Latin fortis, which refers to the spicy flavour. Originally, the Sienese called it "panpepato" ('peppered bread'), due to the strong pepper used.

If using baking parchment, peel it off and discard it; the edible rice paper can be left on. Cool completely on a wire rack, then dust generously with icing sugar, rubbing the sugar gently into the surface. Cut into wedges to serve.

Traditionally panforte was known as a delicacy for nobles and the upper class. In the early 1200's servants and settlers would present panforte to the nuns and monks of the monastery of Montecelso near Siena, Italy. Today panforte is traditionally served around Christmas time, but can be enjoyed year round.

EN – Panforte is a traditional Tuscan cake known since the Middle Age (1000 a.C). In the past it was called Pane Natalizio (Christmas bread) or Pane Aromatico or Panpepato (Spicy bread) and baked only by skilled druggists (or apothecary), called Speziali.

Lardy cake dates back to the mid-19th century, and almost certainly comes from the West Country, although it's probably best not to attempt to pin down exactly where there unless you're feeling particularly brave. The idea is simple: you use lard in place of butter to enrich a white dough.

Both are fruit cakes, pan pepato (or panpepato) is flavored with black pepper and chocolate, while pan forte (or panforte) is milder, with the chocolate and pepper omitted. Documentation of these fruitcakes dates back to the 1200s, and shows that this type of bread was paid to Siena monasteries as a tithe.

en. big girl = ragazzona.

Line the tin

If you're cooking a cake for a long time (fruit cake, for example), it's worth wrapping the outside of the tin too using brown paper and string. The outside edges will cook faster and you don't want them to burn before the middle is done.

The winner. Parchment + nonstick pan spray. Silicone-coated baking paper (parchment) is the cake baker's best friend. Line the bottom of your pan with nonstick parchment, then coat the pan's sides with nonstick pan spray.

What is special about Siena? ›

The city is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year in Piazza del Campo.

Siena started life as an Etruscan settlement, (c 900-400 BCE) inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. Later, during the reign of the Emperor Augustus (63 BCE to 14 CE), like many towns in Tuscany Siena became a Roman Colony "Saena Julia".

The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with the addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.

[ˈdʌstˌpæn ] noun. paletta. Copyright © by HarperCollins Publishers.

We are in the heart of the sweetest season: panettone and pandoro! The holidays in Italy wouldn't be complete without panettoni and pandori: they are as iconic as a tree, wreath, or mistletoe in other cultures.

slang. : a marijuana cigarette : joint.

[ˈtata ] feminine noun. (linguaggio infantile) nanny.