Chestnut spice cake

I like my things organized but I'm not too strict about it: I try to keep things in place on a daily basis and from time to time I have "organization-craze" moments; having one of those with my fridge the other day I realized that the expiration date of my chesnut flour was a few months away only; since I don't want to waste such precious ingredient, I went into a chestnut-flour-baking-frenzy, which resulted in three different treats on the same day: one of them is this delicious and very tender fragrant cake, which smelled so wonderful while baking I had to really hold my horses in order to avoid eating a slice of it the minute it was out of the oven. :D

Chestnut spice cake
from the delicious Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen

1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
¾ cup (75g) chesnut flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar*
½ cup honey (chestnut if possible)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cognac
1 tablespoons Amaretto (optional)
1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.Butter and flour a 23cm (9in) springform cake pan**.
in a medium bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, chestnut flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and honey until creamy and light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, the cognac and the Amaretto. Scrape the bowl again.
In low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl again then beat the batter for 15 seconds on medium speed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes then carefully remove the sides of the pan and let the cake cool completely.
Dust with the icing sugar before serving.
The cake can be wrapped in plastic or stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

* the cake tasted delicious but if I were to make it again I would reduce the sugar just a bit

** I used a regular 23cm (9in) cake pan (no removable bottom), therefore I lined the bottom of the pan with a circle of baking paper, then buttered and floured the pan; I cooled the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 25 minutes, then carefully inverted in onto a plate, removed the paper, then inverted it again (top side up) onto the rack to cool completely

Serves 8-10