Panforte-Traditional Tuscan Cake

At the beginning of the year, Nick and I travelled to Sienna and bought some of the most magnificent panforte I have ever eaten!  It is so hard to find good panforte in Australia so I decided to try to make my own as a gift for dad (as panforte is his favourite dessert).  This recipe is adapted from 'Complete Italian Food', written by one of my favourite Italian chefs, Antonio Carluccio.  This cake will last a very long time but be warned - its very more-ish!

Panforte
Ingredients
 - 250g skinned, blanched whole almonds
 - 150g walnuts
 - 50g pecan nuts
 - 55g candied citrus peel
 - 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 - 2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
 - 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 - 200g plain flour
 - 200g icing sugar
 - 200g honey
 - 1tablespoon water
 - 2-3 sheets of rice paper (enough to line the base of the tray)
 - 2 tablespoons fine vanilla sugar

Method
1.   Preheat the oven to 160°C
2.  Toast the almonds on a frying pan on medium heat (be careful not to burn the nuts).  Slice the candied citrus peel into thin strips.
3.  In a bowl, add the toasted almonds, candied citrus peel, walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, coriander seeds, nutmeg and flour and mix.
4.  Place icing sugar, honey and water in a pot over low heat until dissolved.  Increase the heat to high and allow the mixture to begin to bubble.  Once bubbling use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until a dense, pale brown liquid is formed
5.  Pour the hot caramel over the nut mixture and mix until all the nuts are covered by the caramel.
6.  Line a shallow cake tin (I used a 21cm round tin) with rice paper. Add the mixture and level the top.
7.  Place in the middle of the oven for 30mins.
8.  Allow the panforte to cool in the tin.  Dust with vanilla sugar.
Enjoy :)