Chocolate chestnut cake recipe | Simone's Kitchen (2024)

posted by Simone van den Berg on Jan 31, 2024 32 comments »

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4.67 from 3 votes

Delicious chestnut chocolate cake. Perfect for fall and winter, but with canned chestnuts can be made all year round! It’s the perfect treat for a special occasion.

Chocolate chestnut cake recipe | Simone's Kitchen (1)

Chestnut Chocolate Cake

How delicious does this chocolate cake with chestnut puree look? And I can assure you, it is. It was the subject of a blog shoot that Alex and I did years ago. Alex had made the cake and we ate it on the spot, because gee … you want to have tasted this.

The cake is made with sweetened chestnut puree, you do not need whole chestnuts for making this. Depending on the season, you can sometimes buy it in a grocery store, but you can usually get it online. Around Christmas you can usually find the puree everywhere and I always buy it in bulk. It is canned so it will keep for a long time. Handy to have on hand! Especially great for sweet baking recipes.

Making the dough

You start the chocolate chestnut cake by making the base. This is simply a mixture of flour, unsalted butter and powdered sugar. The easiest way to make it, is in a food processor. I use the Magimix. You mix it well until it just starts to come together. Then turn the dough out onto your countertop and knead briefly until it comes together well. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Chocolate chestnut Cake Filling

While the dough is resting, start making the filling. Separate four eggs. Melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a double boiler with a heatproof bowl. Allow it to cool slightly to room temperature, then add the egg yolks one at a time. Then add the cocoa, 50 grams of the sugar and the chestnut purée. Use a blender if necessary if the mixture is not smooth. You can also add a bit of vanilla extract if you want.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl or in the food processor with the whisk attachment. Add the remaining 50 grams of sugar until it makes soft peaks and fold into the chestnut cream until smooth and even. Add a pinch of salt.

Chocolate chestnut cake recipe | Simone's Kitchen (2)

In the mold

For the chestnut chocolate cake, take a springform pan with a diameter of 22 centimeters. Line it with baking paper and press the dough into the pan. Try to spread it out as evenly as possible (we didn’t do a very good job here) and let it rise on the sides.

Pour the chestnut mixture on the bottom and bake the chestnut chocolate cake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until it is cooked and golden brown. Check if the cake is cooked by inserting a wooden skewer into the center of the cake. It’s ok if it still has a few moist crumbs when you pull it out but it shouldn’t be too wet. A slight wobble is ok. If it is let is bake for a little longer.

Meanwhile, mix the spices for the garnish. Let the cake cool on a cake rack. Once you’re ready to serve sprinkle the spice mixture on top of the cake and serve with whipped cream. You can also decorate the top of the cake with some roasted chestnuts as we did here but that is totally optional. This is absolutely a delicious chestnut cake and a favorite here. Apart from serving it with whipped cream you can also serve it with ice cream or sweetened crème fraîche. It makes for a perfect dessert during the entire year but especially during the festive season. And what better way to celebrate Valentine’s than with this delicious chestnut chocolate cake!

Chocolate chestnut cake recipe | Simone's Kitchen (3)

Chestnut chocolate cake

4.67 from 3 votes

GangCake and cookies

KeukenDutch

Delicious and moist is this chestnut chocolate cake which uses chestnut puree and is extra delicious due to the use of the meringue inside

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Prep time 30 minutes mins

Cooking time 25 minutes mins

Total time 55 minutes mins

12 people

Equipment

▢
Springform tin 22 cm diameter

Ingredients

Pastry

▢ 130 gram cold butter
▢ 200 grams flour
▢ 60 gram icing sugar

Filling

▢ 180 grams dark chocolate 70% cacao content
▢ 130 grams butter
▢ 4 eggs separated into yolks and eggwhites
▢ 1,5 tbsp cocoa powder
▢ 100 gram sugar
▢ 250 gram chestnut puree

Garnish

▢ 1 tsp cinnamon powder
▢ 1/2 tsp cloves
▢ 1 tsp ground ginger
▢ 1 tsp ground chili
▢ 3 tbsp cacao powder
▢ 1 tbsp icing sugar
▢ pinch of seasalt

Metric – Us customary

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F)
Put the cold butter, 200 gram of flour and the icing sugar together in a foodprocessor and mix for a few minutes until you have a firm dough. Turn out onto a kitchen counter and quickly knead until it all comes together. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Roll it out a bit and press it into a greased caketin of 22 cm diameter. Make sure you have a standing edge of about 5 cm. Bake the bottom for about 15 minutes and then remove from the oven.
Bring a layer of water to the boil in a saucepan and put a heatproof bowl on top of the pan and melt 180 grams of dark chocolate together with the 130 grams of butter (au bain marie). Remove the bowl from the heat. Mix the egg yolks in one by one, add 1,5 tbsp of cacao powder, 50 gr of the sugar and 250 gr of chestnut puree. Mix it all together well.
In a clean bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the other 50 grams of sugar bit by bit. Fold in the egg white in batches into the chocolate mix. Spoon the mix onto the cake bottom, place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until done. Leave to cool on a cake rack.
Stir in a bowl the ingredients for the garnish and sprinkle with a little sieve on top

Nutrition Information per portion

Disclaimer

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

Simone van den Berg

Food- and travel blogger from the Netherlands. Loves good food. Loves to taste good food the world over.She also loves to share travelstories, delicious recipes and ok, cat pictures too. She sometimes feels the need to get really healthy for a while, always mingled with periods of insanely delicious sweets and other decadent treats.Lives in the Netherlands with her two cats; Humphrey and Buffy.Profession: Food photographer, food blogger, recipe developer and nutritionist

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