PANFORTE
Description
Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert, created in the Middle Ages in the Tuscan city of Siena.
Round and flat, panforte is a tender cake covered with powdered sugar, revealing a variety of ingredients once it is sliced: nuts and candied fruit generously coated with honey, sugar, flour and spices.
Uses
Panforte is delicious as a dessert, served alongside a glass of prosecco. It also pairs well with a cup of coffee or tea. Its nutritional properties make it an ideal post-workout snack. It is also a great complement to a platter of cheeses, terrines and pâtés.
Distinctives attributes
Since panforte is made entirely by hand, confectioners need plenty of elbow grease to blend the dried fruits, honey, sugar and spices for several minutes into a soft and delicious final product. Every single step – blending the ingredients into a smooth paste, shaping the paste, vacuum-packing and wrapping in carefully folded brown paper – is done manually.
Artisan
Stefano Cicali owns La Cornetteria, a small shop in Montreal’s Little Italy. A native of Florence, near Sienna (the birthplace of panforte), this pastry chef was taught the secrets of panforte making by a local artisan.
Origin
Favuzzi panforte is produced in Montreal’s Little Italy neighbourhood.