Chestnut and Chocolate Cake

This is a rich, moist, soft and interesting cake. The combination between chocolate and chestnuts goes ever so well together.
This recipe has been recently given to me by Vida, my sister's mother in law who lives in Slovenia. Slovenia is less than an hour away from my home town in Italy. It is a beautiful country with lots of mountains and diverse scenery.
It also has a small stretch of coastline where we had a fantastic fish meal, but that is another story for another time!
During the autumn she picks chestnuts in the woods, then freezes them and uses them around the year, mainly for cake making. Also she picks fruits of the forest and makes wonderful jams and tarts.
I have been trying a few Slovenian cakes Vida made and always look forward to the next one, they are all excellent and different to the ones I usually make. Every country has its own specialties and there is always something new to learn.
Now that chestnuts are not in season, I have used chestnuts flour instead of fresh ones. This saves time as well. You can find it in many supermarkets.
- Prep Time : 50 minutes
- Cook Time : 30 minutes
Ingredients
- sugar - 200 g
- eggs - 8
- chestnuts flour - 210 g
- rum - 2 tbsp
- breadcrumbs - 3 tbsp
- vanilla essence - 1 tbsp
- baking powder - 2 tsp
- cocoa - 3 tbsp
- For the filling:
- butter - 200 g
- sugar - 100 g
- chestnut flour - 300 g
- dark chocolate finely grated - 3 tbsp
- egg - 1
- For the chocolate icing:
- dark chocolate - 100 g
- butter - 50 g
Instructions
In a bowl mix the egg yolks with the sugar. Beat the white of the eggs to a firm consistency and add them to the mixture. Then add the cocoa, breadcrumbs, baking powder, vanilla, rum and chestnut flour and stir it all well in.
Put it in the oven at 180 C for 30 minutes.
When the cake has cooled down slice it into 3 layers.
For the filling: work the butter with a mixer to a soft consistency, add the egg, sugar, chestnut flour and chocolate.
Fill 2 layers of the cake with this mixture.
To make the icing: put the chocolate in a bowl and on top of a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not come in contact with the water) and let it melt. Then add the butter and stir it all in.Cover the cake with the chocolate icing and let it cool down.
You can decorate it with fresh flowers or sugary ones.
Che belle foto meravigliose e che dolce stupendo, è molto goloso, brava!Ciao
Wow ALida look amazing and I love the pictures, what nice!!
I've never heard of using chestnut flour before, but I'm intrigued. I don't like chestnuts by themselves at all (I've tried them on several occasions and they're just not for me), but perhaps disguised in cake with chocolate would be better…
What a beautiful cake. What is that black flower is made of?
Che dolce spettacolare e poi con la cioccolata e' stupendo e goloso! E mi piace anche la glassa con la farina di nocciole:-) baci
Simply WOW! Never used breadcrumbs in cake before. M bookmarking this one :D.The snaps are scenic and beautiful.
BUENOS DIAS …que preciosidad de paisajes y la tarta con esa combinacion de castañas se ve impresionante …me apunto la receta pues tengo que hacerla …me parece interesante por utilizar el pan rallado …bsssMARIMI
Yep, another I will have to bake!
che torta deliziosa, complimenti! come quelle che piacciono a me 😀 baci!
Hi Marina! It is made of sugarpaste.
Alida, this is an exquisite cake with a wonderful texture!!! Congratulations! Un beso,
What a yummy looking cake!!!! It looks so rich and moist! I will definitely try this recipe soon.
I picked up some chestnut flour when I was in France, but sadly never got to use it and it went out of date. I am bookmarking this recipe to make in the Autumn tme, as it looks wonderful. Fingers crossed i find some chestnut flour in the UK
Chestnuts and chocolate…the combo sounds and looks fabulous!
This sounds great. It looks delicious!
awesum luking cake..loved the pics…nice one n easy to make..Maha
Great photos – I miss Europe!LOVE chestnut cakes, but here in Australia is difficult to find flour / puree
awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!the cake the pics….they are really really good!what else could be substituted for chestnut flour?
Really, really great looking cake! Isn't it fantastic picking your own and making something from it? I like the black flower!
This looks fantastic. I haven't made or eaten a chestnut cake for a long, long time – I really want to eat one now.
wow wat a wonderfull treat.super perfectly done cake.Awesome.
Alida that looks amazing! I love chestnut, especially in cakes! It looks so moistx
Grazie per i tuoi bellissimi commenti.Questo dolce è semplicemente"MERAVIGLIOSO"Un bacio e buona serata
This looks like a beauty! The combination of chestnuts and chocolate must be fabulous! It looks really moist and lovely 🙂
Dear Alida, I love trying time tested recipes that are passed on. This cake looks moist and delicious. I am sure I would love it. Blessings dear. Catherine xo
The cake looks like perfection! So nice to see an Italian food blog–I love all things Italian 🙂
Alida, thanks SO much for sharing this lovely cake with Made with Love Mondays – I'm so excited to share it with everyone because it's so unique. You should be able to add a link to this recipe post from the current Made with Love Monday post (Week of 4/23/2012) available on my blog. If you need help or assistance with linking up the post, please let me know (via email or comment).
Now I just bet this tastes heavenly. I love chestnuts. We mostly roast them at Christmas time but Id love to have an excuse to have it other times. Ill be marking this one for the future. 🙂
mmmmmmmmmmm So yummy Looks beautifull
Wow! These cake is so tempting & lovely! Wish I can have a slice of this amazing delight! HEAVENLY YUMMY! 🙂
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That is one impressing cake…I have never done smth like that involving chestnuts. It looks amazing.
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Vida’s Cake looks fantastic! If using whole chestnuts, how many each for the cake & the filling and what form would they need to be? Finely ground?
Hi! I would use 500g of chestnuts for the pastry and 700 g for the filling. You will need to cook them, peel them and mash them with a potato masher.