More Panforte for Pi Day

Yes, another panforte. It was supposed to be for our upcoming Pi Day party this Sunday. As you can see we couldn't wait until then to taste it. It will probably be the last one for a while. Candied fruit, one of the key ingredients, is seasonal. Even the one local supermarket that carried it year round no longer does so. That's the bad news. The good news they had some in clearance for only .69¢.

Tomorrow, Sat. March 13th, I will be at a Sun Oven demonstration held by the president of Sun Ovens International, Paul Munsen. The address is Tempe South Stake House, 1111 E. Knox Rd. It starts at 2:30 p.m and is about an hour long. It's in the parking lot; you can't miss it. Stop by and say hello if you're in the neighborhood. They are not selling Sun Ovens there, but Paul can put you in touch with a local dealer if you are interested.

Panforte al Cioccolato

Days like today are exactly what Arizona weather is famous for. Clear, warm, and sunny. I could have been solar cooking all day. Instead I made another panforte which was done after only thirty minutes in the Sun Oven. This time I made the variation with chocolate. I know, we haven't even finished the apple cake from Monday and here I am solar baking more sweets. Well, like the first panforte, this one is for a special occasion. We haven't even tasted it yet. I'm hosting my first annual pi day celebration on March 14th and I wanted to get a head start on the preparations. Panforte will stay fresh for weeks if stored properly, but I'll have to hide it if I want it to stay intact that long.

When the panforte was done it seemed a shame to let the remaining hours of sunshine to go to waste. Dinner was already taken care of, I had some red lentil curry in the freezer. All I need was some rice to go with it. There was plenty of time and sun to solar cook that too.

Solar Panforte di Siena

I'm pleased to report that the Sun Oven may just be the perfect vehicle for panforte. I can't believe how easy it is to make. This specialty of Siena is so hard to find in the U.S.  I saw some once at Whole Foods, but it was ridiculously expensive - even by Whole Foods standards. I never thought it would be possible to make at home.

Technically it is not fully solar cooked. A mixture of honey and sugar is brought to a boil and mixed with the other ingredients before baking it at 300ºf. I'm not sure which took longer, bringing the sugars to boil or baking it in the Sun Oven for thirty minutes. In any case, the end result seems to be pretty good. I say seems to be because we haven't tasted it yet. I'm bringing it to dinner at my cousin's place tomorrow.

After reading countless recipes I settled for one that I found at whatscookingamerica.net. I chose it because it didn't use cocoa; I wanted to make the more traditional panforte margherita. Even though I have yet to taste this I'm very excited about the potential of this recipe. By mixing in different nuts, dried fruits, and spices the variations are endless.

If you do make the plunge and decide to make some yourself, keep in mind that it is extremely rich. A tiny bit goes a long way. Luckily, if properly stored, it will stay fresh for weeks.