Panforte [Nuts and candied fruit honey cake]

Ingredients

½ cup honey
1 cup sugar
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup almonds, roughly chopped
½ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
3 ounces candied pineapple, chopped
3 ounces candied citron, chopped
3 ounces candied orange peel, chopped
3 ounces dried figs, chopped
3 ounces dried apricots, chopped
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Powdered sugar for dusting

Method

Lightly toast all the nuts and rubbing the hazelnuts and almonds in a kitchen towel to remove their skins. You may want to remove the walnut skins this way. Be careful when toasting the pignoli, for they burn easily. Toss the fruit, nuts, cocoa, flour and spices together and set aside. Bring the honey and sugar to a boil in a medium sauce pan over moderately low heat. Once the sugar is dissolved, the heat can be turned up a bit and the mixture should boil gently until it reaches 238 F or the soft ball stage. Now remove the pan from the heat and stir in all the other ingredients. This mixture will be quite stiff, and you will need your hands or a large spoon (you can butter your hands or the spoon to make it easier) to press the mixture into a greased 9" (or larger) pan with a removable bottom. Bake 325 F for 30 minutes. Cool on a rack for 45 minutes and remove from the pan. Sprinkle very liberally with powdered sugar.