Skip to content

Panforte (Sienese Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake)

IG Michael Horowitz: ‘Text Messages’ Contained Evidence of ‘Political Bias’ at FBI

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Wednesday left the door open to the possibility that political bias played a role when FBI officials launched a probe—codenamed Crossfire Hurricane—into a Trump campaign aide in 2016. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, questioned Horowitz about his probe into the FBI’s FISA application to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page for as long as a year. Johnson noted that Horowitz’s report found that Bill Priestap, the former FBI assistant director of counterintelligence, didn’t show any political bias when he opened the investigation. He said Horowitz, however, found evidence of political bias during his yearslong investigation. “We found through the text messages evidence of people’s political bias, correct,” the inspector general told the panel. Earlier…

Panforte (Sienese Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake)

Recipes for panforte abound, some more traditional than others, such as the version shared by Giovanni Righi Parenti in his book “La Cucina Toscana.”

Here is my version, which I settled on after years of experimenting in the kitchen to perfect the balance of ingredients.

The spices used in panforte make it unique, a sort of Tuscan gingerbread: every shop in Siena has its own secret mix. This is Giovanni Righi Parenti’s ratio, though, the same I use when I make my own panforte: 5 grams (about 1 teaspoon) of coriander seeds, 3 grams (about 2/3 teaspoon) of mace, 1 gram (about 1/4 teaspoon) of cloves, 1 gram of nutmeg. All the spices are ground together into a fine powder.

Makes one 7-inch panforte 

  • 1 sheet rice paper or parchment paper
  • 10 1/2 ounces almonds, unpeeled
  • 3 1/2 ounces hazelnuts, peeled
  • 5 ounces candied orange peel
  • 5 ounces candied citron peel
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup wildflower honey
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 7-inch springform pan with rice paper.

Arrange the almonds and hazelnuts on a tray and toast them for about 15 minutes, until the almonds are golden inside when cut.

Meanwhile, cube the candied orange and citron peels and collect them in a bowl.

Add the flour, spices, and toasted almonds and hazelnuts.

Now melt the honey and powdered sugar together in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat when the honey and sugar are completely melted into a golden syrup. Pour the syrup over the other ingredients and mix well with a spoon. You should have a dense batter.

Pour the batter into the lined springform pan. Even out the surface using wet hands.

Dust the surface with powdered sugar and bake for 25–30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before releasing the cake from the pan. Don’t wait too long, otherwise the sugar will harden and make this step difficult. Once cooled, dust generously with powdered sugar. Store for weeks wrapped in baking paper. (It gets better with age!)

Giulia Scarpaleggia is a Tuscan born and bred food writer, food photographer, and author of five cookbooks, including “From the Markets of Tuscany.” Find her online at her blog, JulsKitchen.com

This article is from the Internet:Panforte (Sienese Christmas Fruit and Nut Cake)

Trump Order Gives Federal Employees a Day Off for Christmas Eve

President Donald Trump issued an executive order this week giving federal employees a day off on Christmas Eve, or Dec. 24. “All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, the day before Christmas Day,” Trump wrote. “The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on December 24, 2019, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.” Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday so without the order, federal employees would have been expected to report for work. American presidents sometimes give federal employees half a day or a day off…