‘Italian’ Christmas Chocolate Cake

With Christmas on the horizon I thought that I’d share this recipe… These days no festive table can be without an Italian-inspired sweet treat; from Panettone to chocolate figs there is something for all taste buds! My personal favourite is the Tuscan treat, Panforte. Last year when I came upon this recipe from Diana Henry, which is inspired by the flavours of Panforte, I couldn’t resist trying it. It’s wonderful. With nuts, spices, dried fruit and citrus it shouts ‘Christmas!’ and should definitely be on your ‘seasonal to-do list’… (it’s fantastic with an espresso).

100g mixed dried vine fruits

75ml Marsala, sweet or dry

75g unsalted butter

175g golden caster sugar

325g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

75g walnut halves

75g blanched hazelnuts

50g blanched almonds

5 large eggs, separated

finely grated zest of 1 large orange

½ tsp ground cinnamon

generous grating of nutmeg

small pinch of ground cloves

25g chopped candied peel

50g ground almonds

icing sugar or cocoa powder for dusting

1. Put the dried fruit into a small saucepan with the Marsala. Bring to the boil and then immediately remove from the heat. Leave the fruit to plump up for at least 30 minutes, by which time almost all of the liquid will have been absorbed.
2. Melt the butter and sugar in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water). Add the chocolate, stirring to help it melt. Remove the bowl and allow it to cool a little.
3. Toast the nuts in a dry pan over a medium heat, then chop very roughly (you want some good big bits in the cake).
4. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate along with the orange zest, spices, candied peel, dried fruit (and any soaking liquid) and chopped nuts,
5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add a big tablespoon to the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then fold in the rest along with the ground almonds. Mix lightly so that you don’t knock all the air out of the egg whites.
6. Pour into a buttered and base-lined 23cm springform cake tin and bake in a preheated oven, 160’c fan, for 45 minutes. The cake will feel set in the middle but the skewer test doesn’t really work because it stays very moist in the centre until it has cooled.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before carefully removing the surround. When it has cooled completely remove the base from the cake – it will be fragile in the middle so be careful. Finally, dust with cocoa powder.