Panforte.

[hippywife]

OMG! I tasted a little bite of this yesterday. I have never had it before, which being Italian makes that hard to believe. I absolutely love fruit cake but this is even more incredible. It was very expensive so I didn't buy any and searched for recipes this morning. There are many different variations, but having looked at so many, I finally settled on this one:

http://cakeitaly.com/?tag=recipe-panforte

This will be our Christmas dessert this year. :9

[ginnyinWI]

1. looks interesting, Hippywife

I sent the link to my sister-in-law who is of Sicilian descent to see what she thinks. It might make my holiday baking list too. Need to shake things up and try different dishes.

[hippywife]

2. It's of Tuscan origin,

particularly from Siena. And it really is delicious. It's very dense and rich, so a little bit goes a very long way.

I can't wait to try making it to share with family and friends, because of course, I can't eat very much of this kind of thing. :hi:

[ginnyinWI]

3. she answered my email--

She said she's had it maybe six times in her life. Says it's important to realize that this is not cake, but more like candy. You just need a small piece after dinner with coffee. "A little goes a long way".

[hippywife]

4. Most definitely.

Like I said, very rich but no one would want to eat a ton of it. Just a very small portion.

[grasswire]

5. looks more do-able than panettone

I thought about making that a couple of years ago but then I read that to really make it right takes a process from hell and even then it's not as good as commercial Italian bakers can do. The thing about some of those European goodies is that no one there makes them at home. They go out and buy the treats. That is true in Hungary and Romania, too -- a family member travels there regularly for humanitarian errands and she tells me that homemakers there would think it nuts to bake the extra special traditional treats. When some Transylvanians were visiting us a couple of years ago I was making some fancy Hungarian desserts for a party. They were slightly amused by the effort.

But hey, we're Americans. We can do the hard stuff! LOL

I will enjoy following your panettone episode.

[hippywife]

6. I think it will be easier, too.

Looks pretty straight forward, really. I have not made panettone yet, but oddly enough, Bill has. I think it was our second Christmas together and I was sick in bed, so he did it. Turned out really good, too. But he was baking bread before I met him.

[pscot]

7. I'm a little worried

about that 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. I read through the comments at the link, and a recipe posted there called for 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon. Just sayin'.

[hippywife]

8. You may have a good point there.

I may look through some of the other recipes I googled up and see how much they are using. I did not detect an overabundance of cinnamon in the very tiny bite I tried the other day.

[ginnyinWI]

9. what size pan?

I'm copying out the recipe and it doesn't say what size pan to use. ?

[hippywife]

10. Most recipes call for

an 8" cake or tart pan.

[ginnyinWI]

11. thanks. n/t