There are some smells and flavours that immediately remind us of a season. Summer tastes of strawberries, spring reminds me of early cherries, and winter has a strong chocolate flavour (possibly with cream and extra cocoa powder on top).
As for autumn, although pumpkin spice and pumpkins of all sorts are now everywhere and would probably be the go-to choice for many people, I must admit that my go-to flavour is chestnut.
When I used to live in Italy, the transition into autumn and the colder season would be accompanied by the appearance of chestnuts, on trees, on shelves and on the streets. The memory of buying some “caldarroste” (roasted chestnuts) from a street vendor, sold in a paper bag which would keep my hands nice and warm while I munched my way through the entire content, gives me a comforting feeling every time I think about it.
Ok, end of nostalgia moment. Stop the melancholic music. On with cake.
This recipe is inspired by some kind of “nonna’s secret recipe”, one of those you would wow at when you found it in an old dusty book. The story goes that one day my girlfriend showed me an old notebook that she owned when she was a kid, where she would either note down some of her favourite family recipes or stick some that she would have cut out from a magazine or a newspaper So far, nothing strange. Inside the notebook however, we found a random piece of paper where she had written down a list of ingredients – using the thickest purple pencil ever – which were meant to be for a cake made with chestnut flour. Apparently. No method, no instructions, nothing. She could not recall who, what, where, when, why. Looked like one of Paul Hollywood’s technical challenges. These are the ingredients. Make a cake.
Ah, how I love a mystery bake.
It took me a few attempts to figure out the right mixing order, the cooking temperature and time. The result is a moist, soft cake, carrying beautiful chestnut notes all the way through, and that would have already been enough (the original list also included some pine nuts, maybe to go on top), but I decided to convert it into the ultimate chestnut cake by filling it with a smooth chestnut pure, stewed pears and mascarpone Chantilly cream. Oh, and by the way, it’s also gluten free.
Now, onto the appearance of the cake itself. Yes, I did it. I dropped the top layer of the cake. Minute of silence. Then rage. Plus despair. I put it back on top and, for some reason, it reminded me of those Japanese potteries that wouldn’t be thrown away when they’re broken, and instead would be repaired with gold to give them new value and life. And I thought I’d take a picture and use it, exactly as it looked like, as it looks beautiful to me (on top of tasting damn good).
Moral of this story: everything falls, including good cakes, and that’s ok. It’s autumn. Now on with seriously good cake again.
Makes one 24cm cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 350g chestnut flour
- 200g caster sugar
- 12g baking powder
- 4 medium eggs, yolks and whites separated
- 125ml water
- 125ml sunflower oil
- 2g salt
FOR THE CHESTNUT CREAM
- 350g ready boiled chestnuts
- 150ml milk
- 100g caster sugar
- A dash of lemon juice
- 0.5g salt
FOR THE MASCARPONE CHANTILLY CREAM
- 300g double cream
- 150g mascarpone
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE PEAR FILLING
- 400g diced pear flesh (net weight, already peeled and cored). I used “Conference” pears.
- 50g caster sugar
- 30ml lemon juice
- 30ml water
- 0.5g salt
TO FINISH
- Icing sugar
Method
TO MAKE THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 170°C conventional mode. Butter and flour a 24cm diameter cake tin and set aside. Sift the chestnut flour, baking powder and salt through a sieve and set aside.
- Combine the eggs yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Carefully add the oil and water and whisk on medium low speed until just incorporated, to avoid losing too much air bubbles from the mix. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl and using clean whisks, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Using a whisk, gently incorporate the whipped egg whites to the cake mix in three times, ensuring there are no lumps.
- Finally, carefully fold in the powders in four times, ensuring there are no lumps, and no pockets of powder are left before carrying on with the next addition. Once all the powders have been added and the batter is looking smooth, pour it into the cake tin and bake for 40 minutes, until baked all the way through the middle. Check by inserting a skewer, it will need to come out clean. If the cake starts cracking or becoming too dark, cover the tin with some foil. Once baked, switch off the oven, leave the door ajar and let cool inside the oven for 20 minutes before taking it out and removing from tin to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE CHESTNUT CREAM
- Coarsely chop the ready boiled chestnuts and add to a small pan with the milk and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whizz to a creamy consistency using a blender. Once smooth, add the salt and lemon juice and stir to combine. Transfer to a bowl and leave to come to room temperature before refrigerating for the cream to set and firm up.
TO MAKE THE PEAR FILLING
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to boil on a medium heat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, set aside and leave to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE MASCARPONE CHANTILLY CREAM
- Slightly loosen up the mascarpone using a fork and combine it with the double cream in a clean bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and whip to a consistency that is nearly stiff peaks, but still retains some creaminess. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a straight or a star nozzle and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
- When all the ingredients will have cooled down completely, you will be able to assemble the cake. Using a serrated knife, carefully slice the cake in half lengthways, to obtain a top and a bottom disc. Transfer the bottom disc to a plate, supporting it properly to prevent it from breaking. Using a palette knife or a spatula, spread all of the chestnut cream in an even layer. Scatter the stewed pear in all over the chestnut cream, then pipe a generous layer of chantilly cream to top the pears.
- Carefully lift the top layer of the cake (you definitely want to be more careful than I was :-P) and place it on top of the chantilly cream layer. Gently press to make adhere to the rest of the cake and transfer to the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and serve alongside a nice cup of early grey tea.