Italy
Photo: Lucarelli, Public domain, croppedPanforte
/panˈfɔrte/pan-FOR-teh
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- Taste
- Sweet
- Made with
- Nuts & seedsWheat & flour
History
Panforte, "strong bread", is a dense, flat cake of honey, sugar, almonds, candied fruit and spices such as pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, held together with a little flour. It is the Christmas sweet of Siena. Documents from Siena in the Middle Ages mention a spiced honey bread given as tribute to monasteries, and the spices came through the city's trade. In 1879, for the visit of Queen Margherita, a lighter version without pepper and covered with icing sugar was made and called panforte Margherita. Panforte di Siena has had protected status in the EU since 2013, and Siena's bakeries sell it wrapped in decorative paper all year.
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