passover week- passover panforte

passover week- passover panforte

• 31 Mar 2015

Hi Every-one,

Welcome to Day 2 of Passover week. When I made this Panforte at Christmas, I realised it would be the perfect treat for Passover with just a few minor adjustments. Panforte doesn't contain any butter so it’s pareve and you can use any combination of fruit and nuts depending on what’s available. I used candied lemon rind in my version and if you'd like to do the same I've included a recipe for you to use or you could also use the candied lemon slices from this recipe. 



Candied Lemon Peel
Here’s what you’ll need. After juicing a lemon keep the 2 halves to make into candied rind. Slice each lemon half into 3 or 4 pieces then place the lemon pieces into a small saucepan of water then bring to the boil. Drain the water and repeat this boiling and draining process 2 more times to reduce the bitterness.

Weigh the lemon slices and measure out the same weight of sugar. Place the sugar and 1 or 2 tablespoons of water in the rinsed out pan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Place the lemon slices back into the syrup and simmer for 45 minutes or until the skin turns translucent. Remove the slices from the syrup and place on a rack to drain overnight. The following day turn the slices over and do the same before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. This will make a little more rind than you need for this recipe. You could also use candied lemon slices from this recipe.



I've made panforte twice since Christmas and I've tweaked the recipe a little. I ran short of almonds one time so used macadamias and liked the result so much, I've added them to this recipe. The candied lemon gives the panforte a little zing and I've also reduced the flour content so dry panforte is a thing of the past.




Here's the recipe for you which makes an 8 in/20 cm panforte. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Passover Panforte (recipe adapted from here)
50 g (1¾ oz) blanched almonds
50 g (1¾ oz) macadamia nuts

100 g (3½ oz) roasted hazelnuts
90 g (3 oz) dried figs, coarsely chopped
60 g (2 oz) dried apricots, coarsely chopped (not Turkish)
50 g (1¾ oz) candied lemon peel
½ cup Passover baking mix (equal quantities potato flour and superfine matzo meal)
2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ tsp ground black pepper

Chocolate Syrup
60g (2oz) dark chocolate, chopped 
¼ cup sugar 
½ cup honey

To serve
Cocoa powder

METHOD
Spread almonds and macadamia nuts on an oven tray, put into moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly golden. 

Sift the Passover baking mix with the cocoa, the cinnamon and the black pepper. Combine the nuts in the bowl with the chopped figs, the dried apricots, the chopped candied lemon peel and the sifted baking mix.

Grease and line the base and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake tin with baking paper.

Put the chopped chocolate, the sugar and honey in a saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved, brushing down sides of saucepan with brush dipped in hot water to dissolve any sugar crystals. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer uncovered until syrup forms a soft ball when a few drops are dropped into a glass of cold water or reaches 116°C/240°F. 

Add the chocolate syrup to fruit and nut mixture, mix well. Spread mixture quickly and evenly into prepared tin. 

Bake in a moderate oven (180°C/350°F) for 35 minutes or until just firm, remove from oven and cool in tin. 

Turn out; remove paper before wrapping in aluminium foil. Leave at least one day before cutting, though I think it needs at least a week to mature. 

Before serving, sift cocoa powder over the top of the panforte then cut into wedges.



I hope you get the chance to make this. It's not very sweet and has lots of dark complex flavours which I find highly addictive, so you've been warned. I made 2 and have already eaten the first one and it's not even Passover yet!

See you all again tomorrow with another sweet treat for Passover.

Jillian