Panpepato recipe with nuts, spices and pepper

Panpepato is one of the numerous Italian fruitcakes made in winter. But unlike Panforte di Siena and Pangiallo from RomePanpepato contains real pepper.

There are numerous recipes for Panpepato with slight variations from different corners ofItaly. People from Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna have one version, which is said to date back to 1465 when the Duke of Ferrara served a panpepato with gold pieces inserted in each cake. And there are numerous other versions (without the gold) that can be traced back to specific parts ofUmbria and Lazio. My recipe for Panpepato is mixture ofseveral other recipes, and it is absolutely irresistible.

Ingredients

150 g raisins
100 ml Marsala wine
150 g almonds
150 g hazelnuts
150 g walnuts
150 g candied orange zest
150 g dark chocolate
4-5 cloves
1 tsp dark pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbs cinnamon
300 g honey
300 g flour

Preparation

Soak the raisins in Marsala
Chop walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts and mix the nuts with candied orange zest, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and crushed cloves.
Chop the chocolate finely or melt it in a water bath and mix it with the nuts.
Add soaked raisins to the mixture along with runny honey (Things go easier it the honey has been heated slightly and has become fluid.)
Work flour into the mixture with your hands. There’s enough flour when the dough is no longer sticky.
Shape the dough into two domes.
Bake the panpepato at 170 C / 350 F for 30 minutes. (It doesn’t have to be all dried out inside.)
Panpepato will keep from Christmas to Epiphany, which is at least 2 weeks, in a cake tin. (If you can leave it alone that long)

25 replies

Turkey's For Life says:

December 17, 2015 at 8:36 am

Well, this looks perfectly festive and definitely wouldn’t last into Epiphany in our house! :) We’ve only gone as far as making mince pies this year, here. We made chutney, too, for Christmas but we’ve nearly eaten it all! :D
Julia

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- Mette Vaabengaard says:
  
  December 20, 2015 at 11:07 am
  
  We have difficulty making it last to Christmas, but I wouldn’t mind swapping the last bit for a couple of home-made mince pies. Yum.
  
  Reply
Judy @My Well Seasoned Life says:

December 17, 2015 at 6:21 pm

Thank you for creating a new Christmas tradition in my house. Lovely.

Reply
- Mette Vaabengaard says:
  
  December 20, 2015 at 11:13 am
  
  It is actually. Lovely, I mean. I’m just annoyed, I can’t find time – or guests with enough appetite – to make all the nice Christmas cakes every year. Fortunately, we have a saying in Danmark that claims that Christmas lasts until Easter.
  
  Reply
Pat says:

December 12, 2017 at 7:57 pm
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I am looking forward to trying this recipe. I have made panpepato before but not with orange. Can I assume the Marsala is a sweet version?

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 13, 2017 at 6:13 pm
  
  It should ideally be sweet Marsala, but we only even have dry Marsala in the house, so that’s what I use. I think it gives the raisins an interesting note – like dry sherry, port or brandy.
  
  Reply
Becky says:

December 3, 2018 at 1:14 pm

This panpepato looks scrumptious, I’m hoping to make it as gifts for Christmas, can you let me know if its plain flour or self raising flour you use .

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 4, 2018 at 7:03 pm
  
  What a lovely gift. I’m using plain flour. It is a very compact cake, which is why it will keep so long, I guess.
  
  Reply
Maura says:

December 20, 2020 at 5:25 pm

I have made this every year since 2015. It is so easy and one of the best fruitcakes ever! Tastes like a much more complicated recipe than it actually is. We love it!

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 20, 2020 at 6:51 pm
  
  Thank you so much. I really appreciate the feedback.
  
  Reply
sheryl says:

April 25, 2022 at 2:20 pm

i was going to make this, but is there really 1 1/4 cup of honey, that seems a lot!

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  April 27, 2022 at 8:22 am
  
  It is a lot of honey, but it is the only sweetening you add. If you don’t want to put this amount of honey in your Panpepato, you could try to substitute some of it with sugar. This version with honey is not particularly sweet.
  
  Reply
  
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Barb Palmer says:

December 4, 2022 at 9:15 am

Could this be made with almond flour instead of plain wheat flour?

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 4, 2022 at 11:02 am
  
  I don’t see why not. Everything gets better with almond flour.
  
  Reply
Ann says:

December 10, 2022 at 2:21 am

This recipe sounds fantastic! I was wondering how long should you soak the raisins in the Marsala wine? Thanks!

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 11, 2022 at 5:34 pm
  
  Depends on the age and dryness of the raisins, but in most cases half an hour will do.
  
  Reply
Linda says:

September 24, 2023 at 1:54 pm

Hello
I’d like to make this, but am unsure what is meant by ‘candied orange zest?’ Is it citron, or candied rind? Do you make your own? Thanks very much

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  September 24, 2023 at 4:58 pm
  
  It is candied orange rind and normally I’d buy it, but it is quite easy to make your own. Just boil strips of orange rind in sugar and a little water and leave it to dry on parchment paper.
  
  Reply
Tomi says:

November 2, 2023 at 12:51 am

I’m not a big fan of raisins.Can I substitute for cranberries?
How about date paste instead of honey?

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  November 5, 2023 at 6:18 pm
  
  AN Italian would say no way, but I’d give it a try. I believe Panpepato tastes great with all kinds of dried fruit and natural sweeteners.
  
  Reply
- Diana says:
  
  December 7, 2023 at 10:17 pm
  
  Thank you for this recipe.
  Is that a teaspoon or a Tablespoon, for the nutmeg?
  Thanks
  
  Reply
  - Mette says:
    
    December 10, 2023 at 4:58 pm
    
    A teaspoon. Sorry, I should have been more clear.
    
    Reply
Lesa says:

December 18, 2023 at 9:04 pm

I’m not crazy about the idea of putting black pepper in a cake! Why is black pepper an ingredient? What does it do to the flavor?
Thanks,
Lesa

Reply
- Mette says:
  
  December 19, 2023 at 4:38 pm
  
  It is an old European tradition to bake cookies with a mix of different spices, including pepper, as indicated by the name ‘panpepato‘, German ‘Pfefferkuchen‘ and Danish ‘Peberkager‘. There is also pepper in some gingerbread recipes, and it gives a warm spiciness without dominating the flavour. Some people may prefer using white pepper or substituting pepper with other spices like ginger, aniseed and cardamoms, but I like to follow the old recipes and add pepper as part of the blend.
  
  Reply