Healthy Panforte is my delicious take on the traditional Italian Christmas cake, which originated in Sienna, Italy. It’s a lot quicker and easier to make than Christmas pudding so if you are after a Christmas dessert this might do the trick!
Historically, panforte has been enjoyed during the holiday season, packed with nuts, dried fruits, and spices to symbolise abundance and festivity. This version keeps the rich, indulgent flavours while using wholesome ingredients like spelt flour, honey, and dark chocolate. It’s a perfect treat for those looking for a healthier yet still decadent dessert that captures the essence of the original festive cake.
Health benefits
Packed with a variety of nuts, this panforte is rich in healthy fats, fibre, and antioxidants. The dried fruit adds natural sweetness and a boost of vitamins, while dark chocolate contributes antioxidant flavonoids that support health. With honey as the sweetener, this dessert skips refined sugars in favour of a more natural option.
Ingredients
This recipe features a wholesome mix of almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, white spelt flour, cacao powder, dried figs, prunes, cranberries, and a hint of orange zest. Sweetened with honey and coconut sugar and finished with rich dark chocolate, it’s the perfect balance of flavours.
How to make this Healthy Panforte
Preheat your oven to 150°C (fan-forced) and prepare a 22cm springform pan. Roast your nuts for 10 minutes and set aside to cool. Sift the flour, cocoa, and spices into a bowl, then stir in the nuts, dried fruit, and orange zest. Heat the honey, sugar, and water until dissolved, then simmer until foamy. Stir in vanilla and chocolate until melted, and pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing quickly. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for 40 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Serving suggestions and how to store
Serve your panforte in thin wedges, dusted with icing sugar or cocoa for a touch of elegance. It stores beautifully in an airtight container for up to three weeks in the fridge or three months in the freezer, making it a perfect make-ahead treat.
Vary this to suit your dietary needs
To make this panforte gluten-free, simply replace the spelt flour with almond meal and rice flour. You can also swap the nuts for your favourites like walnuts or pecans, or change up the dried fruit to include your preferred mix-ins like apricots or dates.
Ingredients
- 160 g raw almonds (1 cup), coarsely chopped
- 155 g hazelnuts (1 cup), coarsely chopped
- 70 g pistachio kernels (½ cup), unsalted
- 75 g white spelt flour (½ cup)
- 40 g cacao powder (⅓ cup)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 70 g dried figs (½ cup), coarsely chopped
- 80 g prunes (½ cup), coarsely chopped
- 80 g dried cranberries
- 1 orange – zest, finely grated
- 220 g honey (⅔ cup)
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar or rapadura
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla – essence or extract
- 120 g dark chocolate – chopped
Serve
- icing sugar – or extra cocoa powder to dust
Method
- Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F (fan-forced). Grease a 22cm springform pan and line with baking paper (parchment paper) set aside.
- Spread the almonds, hazelnuts and pistachio nuts on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until just fragrant; set aside to cool.
- Sift the flour, cocoa and spices into a large bowl, then stir in the salt, fruit, cooled nuts and orange zest. Set the bowl on a folded tea towel or non-slip surface.
- Put the honey, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat, without boiling, until the sugar just dissolves. Then bring to a rapid simmer, uncovered and without stirring, for just 2-3 minutes until foamy.
- Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the vanilla and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts.
- As soon as the chocolate has melted, immediately pour the hot chocolate syrup over the fruit and nut mixture and working quickly, stir with a large spoon until well combined (this takes a bit of muscle and it’s important you work quickly so it incorporates quickly). Spoon into the tin immediately.
- With a wet big spoon or silicon spatula, press mixture firmly and evenly into the prepared tin. It is thick and very sticky so again work quickly.
- Bake for 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack (this will take about 1-2 hours depending on your kitchen temperature).
- Remove from pan.
Serve
- Dust with either icing sugar or cocoa (optional).
- Cut into thin wedges to serve.
Store
- In an airtight container in a cool kitchen or the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Variations
Gluten-free
Replace the spelt flour with ¼ cup almond meal and ¼ cup rice flour.Different nuts
Yes, feel free to swap out the nuts I have chosen for other nuts like walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts.Different fruit
Yes, you can sub in other dried fruit like apricots, dates and sultanas.Vegan
Replace the honey with maple syrup and a dairy-free chocolate.I love this decadent but healthy version of Panforte…let me know what you thought in the comments below…
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[email protected] says
Thank you for this recipe – I made it as my birthday cake for fun and I did love it. I realised I’m not a fan of cloves though and find them a but overpowering (I had the same in the massaman curry recipe – perhaps because it’s a new flavour for me!) I love the texture and all the other ingredients though. I was wondering what other people thought might be better – to use mixed spice (which I don’t notice the cloves taste in) or the same spices but without the cloves? What would be better?
Well Nourished Team says
Hi, you can simply leave those spices out…there is enough other spices in the recipe to keep it flavourful!