Panforte di Siena

Appearance & taste

Panforte di Siena is sold whole as a round or rectangular cake, and in pieces as wedges or squares. It is 14 to 45 mm high; round cakes measure 10 to 38 cm in diameter, rectangular ones 10 to 20 cm in width and 20 to 40 cm in length. Depending on its size it weighs between 33 g and 6 kg. The surface is rugged and irregular. The white variety is covered with icing sugar, which may also be enclosed in a sachet; the black one is dark brown from a spice mixture.

Panforte is soft and can be cut with moderate resistance. The cut surface is shiny and shows the creamy white almonds, the bright green of the candied citron, the candied orange and the colour of the candied melon. The bite combines the fibrous almonds with the soft fruit and the dough. It tastes sweet, with an aftertaste of candied fruit and almonds; the scent of spices is lighter in the white variety and very intense in the black one.

Production

The white variety is made with “tipo 0” wheat flour, at least 18 % whole, unpeeled sweet almonds, 35 to 45 % candied citron and orange peel (at least 25 % of it citron), sugar, glucose syrup or invert sugar, blossom honey, and nutmeg and cinnamon. The black variety contains candied orange peel and diced candied melon, which makes up at least 40 % of the candied fruit; it is spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon and sweet pepper. Starch wafers form the base. Depending on the variety, ground hazelnuts, walnuts, caramel, cocoa for dusting, vanilla and other spices such as coriander, clove, star anise or ginger are among those permitted; other ingredients and additives, colourings and preservatives are not.

All steps take place in the province of Siena. Processing and packing must not be interrupted, because the product loses its consistency as it cools. Because of its high content of sugar, flour and candied fruit, it absorbs moisture from the air and would then become translucent, soft and sticky. Panforte is therefore sold in tightly sealed paper or cardboard packaging, which also protects it from pests such as the flour moth. The name must appear in Italian.

Origin & history

According to the specification, panforte has been made in the monasteries and spice shops of Siena since the 12th century, when trade and crafts flourished in the towns along the Via Francigena. Siena dominated the spice trade from the Middle Ages, and many of the best-known producers grew out of old spice shops. Since 1772 panforte has been baked throughout the province, no longer only within the city walls. The makers are called “panfortaio”; later came the “Canditore”, the master candier. The surrounding countryside supplied wheat, almonds, hazelnuts and honey. A local melon variety called “Zatti”, with a thin skin and sweet, richly coloured flesh, was well suited to candying and was long grown specially for this purpose.

The name “Panforte” is first recorded at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1810 Natale Pepi founded the first factory, after the pharmacy of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala had been closed under the Napoleonic occupation. The cookbook “La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bene” (1891), the “Artusi”, calls panforte a typical Sienese sweet, and in 1931 the Touring Club Italiano guidebook speaks of the “world-famous Panforte di Siena”. The white variety was created in 1879 in honour of Queen Margherita, who came to Siena for the Palio in August: with fewer spices and with icing sugar, hence “panforte Margherita”. Panforte used to be made from September to the end of the year and eaten at Christmas; today it is also made outside the Christmas season.