Festive fare: panforte and gingerbread stars
This is Lesley McKay's recipe for the panforte that we have been given every year since her son married my daughter. We all love it. This is the first time I have made it myself and I am glad to report that it worked and family members approved.
I substituted some crystallised ginger, as I love ginger, and organic crystallised cherries that looked appealing on the shelf.
Panforte recipes are many and varied, according to region, taste, and availability of ingredients. Lesley regards this version as a work in progress.
Some years ago we had fun making the gingerbread biscuits and hanging them as edible decoration on the Christmas tree. From memory they hung on a mossy dead branch, which wobbled in a flowerpot. It was not one of the children's most popular Christmas trees - they wanted a traditional pine tree branch with red tinsel and coloured lights.
This year, the girls are older and more interested in the cooking. I am not sure yet whether they will make these biscuits as a gift or to hang on a tree, but they work for both.
If you plan to hang them, use a chopstick to make the hole before they're cooked.
Panforte
Makes 1 large 28-centimetre panforte or two smaller ones in 20-centimetre tins, ideal for gifts. If you're making two, it is best to halve all the ingredients and make them up separately.
250g unblanched almonds
250g raw hazelnuts
120g glace apricots, chopped, or use dried apricots, or a mix of both
120g glace pineapple or peaches, chopped
120g candied orange rind, or use mixed citrus peel
40g raisins, chopped (optional)
100g dried figs, chopped
200g plain flour
4 tbsp cocoa
120g dark chocolate
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground white pepper
Grease and line the base and sides of the cake tin(s) with non-stick baking paper or edible rice paper. Roast the nuts on separate trays in the oven at 200C for 15 minutes. Leave the skins on the almonds, but when slightly cooled, wrap the hazelnuts in a tea towel or shake them in a plastic bag to rub off the skins. Don't fret if some skins remain. Chop the nuts roughly and combine well in a bowl with the chopped fruits, sifted flour, cocoa and spices.
Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over simmering water. Put the sugar and honey into a separate saucepan, stirring very gently over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Don't let the honey and sugar become too toffee-like; just make sure the sugar is melted and then simmer for a few minutes before pouring on to the dry ingredients, followed quickly by the melted chocolate.
Working quickly, combine the ingredients thoroughly before the mixture starts to firm. Time is of the essence here. If the phone rings, let it ring - it can't be more important than the panforte.
Press the mix firmly and evenly into the tin. It becomes sticky, but dipping your fingers into milk helps to spread the mixture into shape. Bake at 160C for 30 minutes.
Don't overcook. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Turn out and remove the paper (leave the edible rice paper on if using it). Leave at least one day before cutting. Before serving, sift icing sugar on top. Wrapped in aluminium foil, the panforte will keep for weeks.
Gingerbread stars
500g plain flour
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
110g castor sugar
140g black treacle or golden syrup
100g butter
3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
Whisk together the flour and the spices in a bowl and set aside.
Warm the syrup and the sugar together in a saucepan to blood heat. Add butter in pieces and, when melted, add the bicarbonate of soda. It will begin to fizz. Stir and add this mixture quickly into a well in the centre of flour in the bowl, adding the beaten egg.
Stir the well of liquid with a wooden spoon, taking in from the sides as you stir and taking in enough flour to make a firm paste.
When you have a firm paste, tip out on a floured board and knead until it is a smooth consistency. Form into a ball and chill.
Roll out thinly and cut into shapes. You can do this between two sheets of cling wrap. You can use this mix to make a gingerbread house and gingerbread men, as well as biscuits shaped into stars, crescent moons or other shapes. Bake in an oven at 170C on a baking tray lined with baking paper for almost 10 minutes. When the biscuits are cool, they can be dipped or iced with royal icing.
Royal icing
2 egg whites
Juice of half a lemon
330g icing sugar, sifted
Put the egg whites in a bowl and beat in the icing sugar and the lemon juice a little at a time, working the whole thoroughly and beating until the icing is smooth and white. When complete, the icing should be white and stiff.
This is a hard icing used for rich fruit cakes. It is important to have the right consistency for the icing to be able to dip the stars. If it is too thick, use lemon juice or egg white to thin it, not water. When it sets, it should be very hard.
>> Robbie Howard is former owner of Lynwood Preserves.