Sapori's Siena Panforte

I was at JF's place the other day and found a very colourful round box with quite an enticing slice of something which looked like fruit cake. He bought it during his trip to Europe in June. HE bought this panforte in Siena, Italy. haha, that boy didn't know what it was! He was as clueless as me when I quizzed him about what it might taste like. Anyway, so me, being the adventurous person I am, I asked if I could open and try it.

And so I did.

This was what it looked like:



Panforte actually means "strong bread". Well, it certainly didn't taste like bread but I read that the name came about because of the strong spices used. It's also known as Siena cake and used to be a pastry only enjoyed during Christmas. Panforte's kind of a cross between candy, fruit cake and honey cake (Lebkuchen).

This panforte that JF bought contained raisins, and some nuts like pistachios as you can see. It was really sweet - it's coated with icing sugar! One thin slice was enough for me. I'd stick to chocolate anytime. I guess this would go great with tea or coffee.

I'm not sure if they sell it here in Singapore. I wouldn't be surprised if they did! I've seen panettones sold at Jason's Marketplace etc. Our little island's pretty well stocked if I would say!