Jamie Magazine
By Georgina Hayden
1 hr plus cooling
Not Too Tricky
serves 20 slices
About the recipe
This traditional Italian cake originates in the Tuscan city of Siena. It keeps quite well, so seal one in a nice tin as a present for a friend.
Recipe From
Ingredients
rice paper
300g nuts, such as almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts
200g candied peel
75g plain flour
175g dried figs
2 good splashes of sherry or vin santo
6 tablespoons runny honey
150g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom pods
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
icing sugar
Method
- Line the base of a 22cm round tin or a 20cm square cake tin with rice paper.
- Toast the nuts in a dry pan and add to a bowl. Chop and stir in the candied peel along with the flour.
- Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/gas 2.
- Blitz the figs in a food processor, then transfer to a saucepan with 1 splash of the booze, the honey and sugar. In a pestle and mortar, bash the cardamom pods, remove the seeds and crush, then add to the pan with the cinnamon, cloves and a good grating of nutmeg.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, then pour onto the nut mixture. Mix well, adding a splash of booze if it’s very dry.
- Spoon into the tin and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully press down a layer of rice paper on top. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool in the tin.
- Thinly slice and dust with icing sugar, then serve with espresso.
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