Spiced chestnut financiers

Financiers are one of my favorite things to bake: they are so cute and petite, I love anything almond and always have more than enough egg whites in the freezer. So while baking with my chestnut flour I immediately thought of a financier version made with it, which turned out interesting with a hint of cinnamon; however, unlike the financiers made with almond meal, the flavor in these did not develop with time, so they're best eaten the day they're made (and taste really good with a dollop of cherry jam).

Spiced chestnut financiers
adapted from the great Simply Bill

½ cup (50g) chestnut flour
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (68g) icing sugar + a bit extra for dusting
3 tablespoons (30g) all purpose flour, sifted
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 egg whites
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour twelve 2-tablespoon capacity financier molds.
In a large bowl, sift together the chestnut flour, icing sugar, all purpose flour, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the egg whites until just combined. Stir in the melted butter.
Pour the batter in the pans. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden - the financiers should spring back when touched. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and store in an airtight container.

Makes 12

Chestnut brownies

Remember my chestnut-flour-baking-frenzy? After removing the cake from the oven and placing it on a wire rack to cool, I immediately started making these brownies: the recipe called for chopped roasted chestnuts to be incorporated in the batter, but I decided to bake the brownies without them anyway. The result was a cakey brownie, very moist and delicious; I gladly gobbled up two pieces of it and that says a lot since I’m a definitely a fudgy-brownie-kind-of-gal.

Chestnut brownies
slightly adapted from the wonderful Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen

112g (4oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) chestnut flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) dark brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Amaretto or cognac
icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 23cm (9in) square pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, chestnut flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the sugars and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and Amaretto (or cognac). Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar (if desired) and cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) square pan

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

Chestnut cakes with raisins, almonds and honey

After making Alice Medrich’s chestnut pound cake several times I thought I should find another recipe for my chestnut flour – that was when I found these adorable little cakes on one of my old Gourmet Traveller issues. They looked so perfect! I had to bake them. The cakes turned out incredibly tender – I had to be very careful while unmolding them – and delicious. I never thought I’d say that, but Alice’s chestnut cake – which is one of my top favorites – has found some serious competition... ;)

Chestnut cakes with raisins, almonds and honey
adapted from the always amazing Australian Gourmet Traveller

1/3 cup (50g) golden raisins
100g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) superfine sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
65g chestnut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100ml whole milk
3 tablespoons flaked almonds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, extra, melted, for drizzling
honey, for drizzling

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour four 1 cup (240ml) capacity mini cake pans.
Place raisins in a small bowl and pour enough hot water to cover. Set aside.
Beat sugar and butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Sift in all purpose flour, chestnut flour and baking powder, stir to combine, stir in milk, then spoon into prepared pans.
Drain raisins, pat dry on absorbent paper and combine in a bowl with the almonds. Scatter over cakes, drizzle with the melted butter and bake until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean (25-30 minutes). Cool cakes in pans over a wire rack for 10 minutes then carefully turn out onto the rack. Cool completely.
Drizzle cakes with honey before serving.

Makes 4

Chestnut pound cake

A very dear friend of mine got me a package of chestnut flour as a gift – yes, we’re the kind of people who love giving/getting food as gifts. :)

I have never seen that flour around here, and the minute she gave me the package she said: “make Alice Medrich’s chestnut pound cake as soon as you can”. I did as I was told – four times already, to be honest – and I’m forever in debt with my friend: this is one of the best cakes I have ever had. EVER.

Chestnut pound cake
from Pure Dessert

1 ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (255g) all purpose flour
1 cup (126g/4½oz) chestnut flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk
1/3 cup (80ml) dark rum

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter two 5-cup capacity loaf pans, line with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Sift together three times the all purpose flour, chestnut flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs lightly with a fork.
In the large bowl of a mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add the sugar in a steady stream and beat until light and fluffy. Beating constantly, add the eggs gradually to the mixture.
Stop the mixer, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beat on low speed until flour is absorbed. Stop the mixer; add half the buttermilk and half of the rum. Repeat with half of the flour mixture, then all the buttermilk and rum. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining flour, beat until absorbed. Scrape batter to pan and bake until risen and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (50-55 minutes).
Remove from oven, set over a wire rack and cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Carefully unmold and let cool completely over the rack.
Can be frozen for up to 3 months (wrapped airtight).

Serves 16