Panforte di Siena: the italian medieval energy bars. That’s what I read somewhere. It really made me laugh and I said let’s give it a try.

Its origins date back to 12th century. It’s a really sweet dessert made with candied fruits, almonds and spices with couple of variations. Traditionnaly, it’s serverd at christmas time. You can read more about it here, but the site’s in italian.

Christmas or not, my recipe’s an all timer. No sugar, dates and honey instead. Dried fruits and nuts. Some spices and that’s it. Bake it, let it sit 2 or 3 days and you’ve got yourself some yummy energy bars or a great cake to serve along coffee.

Ingredients:

• 120 g almonds
• 75 g unsalted peeled pistachios
• 75 g roasted hazelnuts
• 75 g candied orange peel
• 75 g dried apricots
• 120 g dates
• 45 g agave syrup or honey
• 25 ml vode
• 230 g chocolate (vegan)
• 75 g spelt flour
• 35 g corn starch
• 30 g coconut oil
• peel of one orange
• 1,5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1,5 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 180ºc. Oven roast the hazelnuts for about 10 mins or until golden brown (hazelnut peels should be cracked). Let cool and remove the peels.
2. In a bowl mix all the nuts, candied orange peels and roughly chopped apricots. Add flour, corn starch and all the spices.
3. Make date paste by using hand mixer or a mortar: roughly chop dates, than add water and honey. Mix into a smooth paste.
4. Melt chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler. When melted, add date paste and orange peel.
5. Add chocolate mixture to the nuts mixture and combine.
6. Lin cake tin with baking paper and bake at 180ºc for 20 – 25 mins. Cool down and let sit for 2 – 3 days.
7. Garnish with dried fruits, nuts, chocolate or cocoa.

This recipe was created as a part of a project for Spar Slovenija and their magazine Dobro zame.