The Recipe Room

A traditional Czech dessert, this almond and chestnut cake (called Dort Kastanovy in the Czech Republic) is very hearty and rich.  Chestnuts are not easy to find most of the year except in the autumn, so this is a great seasonal recipe to keep in mind when the leaves start turning colour. I really like the combination of chestnuts and almonds, but if you prefer just almonds, I recommend this almond cake with orchard fruits recipe.

 

Ingredients:

• 500g chestnuts, washed, shells and skins left on
• 500ml whole milk
• 70g butter, softened
• 200g granulated sugar
• 6 eggs, yolks separated from whites, whites stiffly beaten
• 175ml almonds, blanched, peeled and ground
• 500ml double cream, whipped

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Butter a 20cm spring-form cake pan and dust with breadcrumbs.
3. Make an incision on the rounded sides of the chestnuts with a sharp knife and roast them on a baking tray in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes to loosen the shells and skins.
4. Remove from the oven and peel, then cook them on the stovetop in the milk for about 30 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat of the oven to 150ºC.
6. Set aside 50ml of the chestnuts and purée the rest through a strainer while they’re still hot.  Add any liquid that wasn’t absorbed during cooking.
7. To prepare the cake, cream the butter very well with the granulated sugar and the egg yolks.
8. Mix in the ground almonds and the puréed chestnuts.
9. Fold in the egg whites.
10.  Pour the batter into the buttered and dusted spring-form pan and bake in the 150ºC oven for 45 minutes to one hour, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
11.  Cool the cake in its pan for about 10 minutes, then remove the rim.  Run a spatula or knife under the cake to loosen it and then turn it out onto a wire cooling rack.
12. When it has cooled, split the cake into two layers.
13. Fill and cove the cake with the whipped double cream.
14.  Shred the remaining chestnuts (or leave whole according to preference) and sprinkle them over the top.
15. Slice and serve.

Prep Time:  45 minutes

Cooking Time:  60 minutes

Serves:  8

Difficulty:  Medium

 

Tags: Almond and Chestnut Cake, almonds, butter, cake, chestnuts, desserts, double cream, eggs, milk, sugar

This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 June, 2012 at 12:18 pm by Sarah White and is filed under Desserts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.