To say that this spiced, dried-fruit-and-nut-spiked cake is rich is an understatement! Panpetato (“peppered bread”) is said to be a type of panforte: a form of fruitcake studded with fruit and nuts, with very little flour. Follow our recipe for Panpepato and learn to make this dairy-free Italian Christmas cake.
Panpepato
Serves 6 - Prepare and cook in 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 100g ‘00’ flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 100g honey
- 100g dark chocolate
- 80g candied fruit, diced
- 50g blanched walnuts
50g blanched hazelnuts
50g blanched almonds
50g raisins
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of black pepper
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (°C). Soak the raisins for 15-20 minutes in water. Place all the dried fruit on a cutting board and chop coarsely with a knife or food processor. Drain the raisins and add them into a bowl, stirring in the chopped dried fruit, candied fruit, pepper, cinnamon and honey.
Step 2
Melt the dark chocolate in either the microwave or bagnomaria (“bain-marie”) and add to the dry fruit mix, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Lastly, add the sifted flour and knead vigorously with your hands until you obtain a homogenous mixture.
Step 3
Shape the dough into a round loaf, place on a sheet of baking parchment and slightly flatten. Bake for 30 minutes — the panpepato won’t change much in appearance. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into small wedges and serving. Buon Appetito!