Pan forte is lovely to give as a small foodie gift at Christmas – it has a gorgeous citrus flavour from the peel and the nuts and dried fruit are a great little energy boost to keep you going on a long wintery walk. We like to wrap it up with a bow for Christmas stockings!
200 g mixed almonds and hazelnuts
100 g mixed peel
175 g dried fruit – a mix of dates, figs, prunes, raisins
25 g crystallised or stem ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Grating of nutmeg
90 g rice flour
100 g honey
50 g date syrup
25 g coconut oil
Dark chocolate drops or chopped pieces – around 50 g.
1. Roast the nuts for a few minutes until toasted being careful not to brown too much. You can do this in a dry frying pan or on a baking tray in the oven at 180 c.
2. Chop the dried fruit and ginger and add to the nuts along with the peel, spices and flour.
3. Warm the honey, date syrup and coconut oil and pour into fruit and nut mix.
4. Stir well to mix and turn out onto a silicone paper lined tray. You can form into 1cm thick rounds by hand or using a biscuit cutter press into shapes – we used a large heart cutter for ours.
5. Bake for 10 – 20 mins at 180°c until firm. Remove from the oven, turn upside down and top with chopped chocolate or chocolate drops and leave to melt for a few minutes, then spread out with a knife to cover. Leave to set in a cool place and that’s it!
6. Wrap in cellophane and finish with a wee ribbon (or just eat it yourself – good to take on a long wintery walk!)
