Chocolate panforte

I started making panforte a couple of years ago. It's a delicious, chocolatey, nutty slice which is wonderfully spiced. When I bought some all spice in the UK this week, I knew this would be the first thing I'd make. It's technically an Italian Christmas recipe but I think it can be eaten at any time, including after Christmas! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
•  1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 cup blanched almonds and/or hazelnuts
• 200g mixed dried fruit
• 1 cup honey or agave syrup
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 100g dark chocolate

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the base and sides of a 23cm round springform cake tin with baking paper and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, ground ginger and pepper into a large bowl and set aside.
3. Place the almonds in a dry fry pan and heat them over low heat, toss them and moving them constantly until they brown on each side. 
4. Add the almonds, ginger to the flour mixture and stir to combine.
5. Place honey and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Stir from time to time until the sugar has dissolved. Roughly chop the chocolate into smallish pieces and add to the hot honey. Stir well to melt completely.
6. Add the chocolate mixture to the fruit and nuts and stir with a wooden spoon to combine everything well. It will be a very stiff mixture.
7. Press the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool in pan before turning out.
8. Dust the cake heavily with sifted icing mixture and use a large, sharp and warmed knife to slice through the panforte as cleanly as you can. Allow to cool and harden.

Store for at least a couple of days before eating if you can, the flavours develop much better this way. It will keep for at least a month in a cool, dark covered, well wrapped in greaseproof paper.