h12 taste of christmas 08.qxd
05/11/2008
08:29
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Tastes of Christmas
Traditional Panforte di Siena 110g/4oz chopped hazelnuts 75g/3oz of ground hazelnuts. 50g/2oz whole almonds 75g/3oz chopped almonds 50g/2oz ground almonds Generous handful of pine nuts 255g/9oz candied mixed peel, chopped 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg 50g/2oz unsweetened good quality cocoa powder Pinch of ground cloves 115g/5oz honey 115g/5oz caster sugar 50g/2oz plain flour
Delicatessen Olio & Farina, the Italian Deli Gourmet store based in St Albans, produce and source artisan products either direct from their farm in Tuscany, or from ‘La Cucina’ (The Kitchen), their Centre of Culinary Excellence in Genoa, where they manufacture delicious home-made sauces. They also obtain quality items and products, from local tried and tested producers. They have a range of over 300 products, to choose from. For Christmas they have a great variety of gifts to choose from and can gift wrap or customise hampers to your
Olio & Farina St Albans 52 The Maltings St Albans AL1 3HL 01727 836644 www.olioefarina.com
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requirements. They also have back this year, their award-winning ‘Panettone Tradizionale’, only made for 2 months of the year, and their ‘to-die-for’ chocolate truffles. So if you would like to show your appreciation, or give that thoughtful and unique present, Olio & Farina will help you, by adding that special and elegant touch of Italian originality. Make it a truly memorable Christmas! Olio & Farina offer a personalised service, and can even arrange courier delivery throughout the UK.
You will also need: Sugar thermometer, if possible icing sugar for decoration butter A 20cm/8in round cake tin
1 Preheat oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
Grease the cake tin with butter and line the base of the tin with greaseproof paper. 2 Place the nuts, candied mixed peel, spices, cocoa powder and flour into a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. 3 Put the honey and caster sugar into a large, heavy bottomed saucepan and gradually bring to the boil, stirring and testing every so often, either using a sugar thermometer (ready at approx 138C/280F) or by dropping a little of the syrup into a glass of cold water (ready if it forms a ball in the water). Remove from the heat. 4 Pour the hot syrup onto the nut/peel mixture and stir well. The mixture stiffens as the syrup cools, so work quickly. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. The cake will not rise, but will be ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. 5 When ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool. The cake will gradually harden. When cooled, remove from the tin and turn onto a plate. Dredge the top with sieved icing sugar. Serve in small slices. w w w. h e r t f o r d s h i r e l i f e . c o . u k
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