This week the Sunday Slow Scoopers attempted an ice cream that many folks thought reminded them of Christmas (likely because the combination of citrus peel and spice reminded them of a fruitcake - the cake that keeps on giving, as they say). David Lebovitz includes a recipe on p. 68 of the Perfect Scoop for this decadent treat - he even includes a recipe to assist you in making your own citrus, should you be so inclined.
Christmas fruit cake as a rich and heavy cake, full of candied and nuts, then soaked in alcohol. When we were in Italy the first time we discovered that there were other similar cakes out there. Panforte (pronounced pan-FOHR-tay), a specialty of Siena, Italy is far richer and decadent than any fruitcake I've tasted on this side of the pond.
Although it does have some similarities to the 'British' fruit cake (containing the traditional fruit, nuts, and spices) its texture and flavor are very different. Bite into a slice of panforte and you may be surprised to find how chewy it is. This chewy texture comes from mixing the fruit, nuts, spices, and flour (just enough to bind the ingredients), with a boiled syrup made from sugar and honey. This sugar/honey syrup, along with the addition of melted chocolate and cocoa powder, gives this cake an almost candy-like texture and flavor which is hard to resist, even for those who hate fruit cake.
I'm not one of those irrational fruit cake haters (shush you out there who are silently thinking 'I bet he's never met a cake he hasn't liked'). In fact, I just remembered that we'll have to get busy shortly and make this year's batch shortly to give them the appropriate 'aging' time in rum/brandy soaked clothes. Our family has built a huge tradition around the annual Christmas fruit cake. Because of this I was quite looking forward to this ice cream.
This was a delicious treat! I know from reading the comments of many of the slow scoopers that they loved this as much as I did. This is great on its own but I bet that this would pair amazingly with an apple tart!
Panforte Ice Cream
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
3 Tbs full-flavoured honey
1/4 cup mixed candied citrus peels
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely choppedWarm the half-and-half, sugar, and spices in a medium saucepan. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Rewarm the spice-infused mixture.
Pour the heavy cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over top.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warmed spice-infused cream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Stir constantly, over medium heat, with a heatproof spatula until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer into the cream. Discard the cinnamon stick. Stir the custard until cool over an ice bath. While it's cooling, warm the honey in the microwave, then stir it into the custard.
Chill the mixture throughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last few minutes of churning, add the citrus peel and almonds.
I've read about chewy ice cream before that uses ingredients I can't find. That's an interesting method to get chewiness in ice cream.
Posted by: Jude | September 14, 2008 at 01:47 PM
Funny, Jerry, I've never considered Panforte to be fruitcake. At least not the fruitcake that lends itself to all those holiday jokes.
Posted by: Deborah | September 14, 2008 at 04:10 PM
Jerry, good idea about pairing this with an apple tart. Yum!
Posted by: Krista | September 15, 2008 at 01:18 PM
Jude - give this a shot then. It has a great texture contrast.
Deborah - it must the the combination of spices, dried fruits, and very little cake!
Krista - it goes so well with the apple tart - we had MORE last night!
Posted by: Jerry | September 16, 2008 at 09:05 AM