“I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert.” - Jason Love
Today is the feast day of St Macarius, who is the patron saint of confectioners. The reason St Macarius is the patron saint of cooks, confectioners and pastry chefs is because he was a successful merchant in fruits, candies and pastries in Alexandria, Egypt. He was born in the 4th century in Alexandria and died about 401 BC. When he converted to Christianity he gave up his business to be a monk and lived as a hermit. After several years, he was ordained among other monks practicing severe austerities. Sugarplums during the time of Saint Macarius were various candied fruits. In Portugal, green plums are cooked in sugar syrup to celebrate his feast day.
Here is a recipe for a delightful Italian sweetmeat. Make it and eat it while remembering St Macarius!
PANFORTE DI SIENA
Ingredients3/4 cupful hazelnuts (toasted, skinned and chopped)
1 cupful almonds (blanched, toasted and chopped)
1 cupful finely chopped, candied peel
1/2 cupful plain flour
1/4 cupful cocoa
3 teaspoonfuls ground cinnamon
1/3 cupful honey
1/2 cupful white sugar
rice paper
icing sugar
Method
Combine the nuts, peel, flour, cocoa and cinnamon, mixing thoroughly. Put the honey and sugar together in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then pour over the fruit and nuts, stirring well the sticky mixture. Line a greased 20 cm flan tin with rice paper and pour the panforte mixture in, pressing down firmly. Bake in a cool oven (150˚C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool, turn out and sprinkle the top with icing sugar. Cut into wedges and wrap in cellophane.
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