Chestnut and Chocolate Cake | Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

The chestnut and chocolate cake evokes the essence of a celebration cake. This is already a lovely and rich cake, although you won’t think of it as gluten free and low in sugar. The cake is fantastic on its own.

Sometimes, celebration means heightening the holiday spirit of abundance and excesses. So, why not? Give yourself permission for indulgence once and a while and live a little.

I’ve found two recipes of the traditional chestnut and chocolate cake. One from Nigella Lawson (her grandma’s recipe) and the other from River Cottage by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Both call the cake a “pudding.” The recipes are equally compelling. Nigella’s cake is soaked in rum. Meanwhile, Fearnley-Whittingstall aerates the cake by whisking egg whites in the bater. I prefer lightening the cake with eggs knowing that I’m going to add more decadent stuff to it.

Using the River Cottage recipe as the foundation, I’m turning a basic cake, or a pudding or truffle cake if you will, into a layer cake. The base of the cake is built with a firm crust of roasted ground walnut. (Any nuts will suffice.) I think a nutty crust is an easy way to beef up the contrasting texture between the chocolate layers.

Furthermore, there are plenty of leftover butter cream, berry compote and purée in the fridge at my disposal. First, they need to be used up after lingering in the refrigerator for sometime. Second, what better tricks are there in the bakers’ toolbox for boosting flavor than cream and condiment?

On the bottom layer, there is the walnut crust. In between, I use butter cream to stack the delicate cake on top of another. On top of the cake, I apply some berry compote so that the chestnut pieces can sit securely. Surely, we want to highlight the seasonal chestnuts. To top it all off, more chocolate shavings to satisfy the desire of diehard chocolate lovers.

All things considered, I take full advantage of the cake structure by layering texture and flavor in an already wonderful chestnut and chocolate cake. The cake is more than traditional; it’s now taken on a complex and arresting personality. It has layers and dimensions!

Print Recipe

Chestnut and Chocolate Cake | The River Cottage

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 250g peeled cooked chestnuts (vacuum-packed or tinned are fine)
• 250ml milk
• 250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), broken up
• 250g unsalted butter, roughly cut up
• 4 medium eggs, separated
• 100g caster sugar
• YOU MAY ALSO NEED:
• 84g /3/4 cup walnut halves for the cake base
• assortments of butter cream and berry compote, for layering
• confectioners sugar, for dusting
• A 25cm springform cake tin (I use two small pans to make two small cakes)

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 340°F/170°C/Fan or 300°F/150°C/Gas 3, and grease and line your 25cm springform cake tin.

2

MAKE THE WALNUT BASE: Spread the walnuts evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes at 350°F/175°C to enhance their flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even roasting and avoid overbrowning. Turn the walnuts onto a clean dish towel and roll and rub them around to loosen the skin. Discard the skins and cool completely. Lower the oven temperature to 340°F/170°C.

3

In a food processor, Pulse the walnuts until they are finely chopped but not powder ine. Spoon it into the cake base and press the nuts evenly onto the bottom.

4

PREPARE THE CHESTNUT PUREE: Put the chestnuts and milk into a pan and heat until just boiling. Take off the heat and mash well with a potato masher – you are aiming for a creamy purée, with just a few crumbly bits of chestnut. Set aside.

5

MELT THE CHOCOLATE: Put the chocolate and butter into a second pan and place over a very low heat. Keeping a close eye, to ensure that the chocolate doesn’t get too hot, melt them gently together, stirring now and then. Allow to cool a little.

6

WHISK EGG YOLKS AND SUGAR: Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until blended and creamy (they don’t need to reach a ‘moussey’ stage). Stir in the warm (not hot) chocolate mixture and then the chestnut purée, to create a well-blended batter.

7

MIX THE BATTER: Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they hold stiff peaks. Take one spoonful of egg white and mix it into the batter to loosen it, then fold the rest in lightly, trying not to knock out too much air. Carefully transfer the mixture to the prepared tin.

8

BAKE: Bake for 25–30 minutes until the cake is just set but with a slight wobble still in the centre.

9

To serve warm, leave to cool a little then release the cake from the tin. Slice carefully – it will be very soft and moussey. Alternatively, leave the cake to go cold, when it will have set a bit firmer.

Notes

Adapted from https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/chestnut-and-chocolate-cake