Castagnaccio – Tuscan Chestnut Cake

I’m lucky, my Mum makes some amazing cakes.  Nothing too fancy but always delicious.  But there are times when she wants to make something a little different.  In my quest to find ideas for that ‘something different’ we came across Castagnaccio – a Tuscan chestnut cake.  Fancy a try?

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History of Castagnaccio

Castagnaccio is also known as baldino or pattona and is often found in Tuscany, Piedmont and surrounding areas of Italy.  It is made with chestnut flour, pine nuts and raisins but there are also loads of variations from different area.  Say you like in Livorno, it is made just three centimetres in thickness and is called a ‘toppone’ while other places add orange rind, different dried fruits, fennel or rosemary.

It is most often served in the autumn and is usually topped with ricotta cheese or chestnut honey.  For the wine fan, sweet wines like Vin Santo is the perfect pairing.

What is chestnut flour?

Okay, so Castagnaccio it is – just one problem.  What is chestnut flour?

As the name suggests, this is a type of flour made from chestnuts.  It is the same stuff that is used to make other chestnut flour dessert recipes like necci.  It uses dry roasted chestnuts to give a slightly nutty flavour to any dish.  It might not be available in every shop but you can see it in health food or specialist stores and there is a slightly more expensive gluten-free version on Amazon too.

It was originally used when people couldn’t get (or afford) wheat flour.  It also doesn’t contain any gluten, so it doesn’t rise – hence the flat look of the Castagnaccio.  The chestnuts themselves are low in fats, high in carbs and have no cholesterol.

How to make homemade chestnut flour

Interestingly, you can make homemade chestnut flour if you struggle to find it in the shops or aren’t too worried about the gluten-free option.  It is a bit of a process but if you want to make a few chestnut flour-based desserts, it could be a good option.

1. Prepare the chestnuts by cutting them with a serrated knife to make an ‘X’ on each flat side.  Pop them on a baking tray and cut the peels to stop them exploding.  Cook on 425 F / 220 C for about 20 minutes until the skins peel back.
2. Remove from the oven and cool a bit.  The shells and inner skins will peel off easily while still a little warm. 
3. Slice in half and pop them in the oven on the lowest possible setting.  Cook until you can’t break them with your fingers.
4. Pop them in a high powered blender until they are a powder similar to normal flour.

Once you have reduced them to a powder, you can store them in the fridge or even free them.  You can keep them this way for up to six months.

Yield: 8 portions

Castagnaccio – Tuscan Chestnut Cake

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A tasty cake that it is a little different and much less sweet than other recipes using a traditional Italian recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

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• 1/3 cup raisins, divided
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 cup chestnut flour, sifted
• 1 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp honey (see notes)
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts, divided
• ¼ cup pine nuts, divided

Instructions

Soak the raisins and rosemary in a small bowl of lukewarm water and set aside

In the centre of the oven place an oven rack. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C and grease a 9 inch pie pan with either olive oil or non-stick cooking spray

In a large glass mixing bowl, combine the chestnut flour with water, honey and olive oil using a fork. Stir until a smooth batter and use a little more water if too thick

Drain the raisins and rosemary and pay dry. Add half the raisins, walnuts and pine nuts to the batter and stir to mix

Put the batter in the pie pan and spread out to a uniform layer. Add the rosemary and rest of the raisins and nuts over the top

Put in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes until the top starts to crack

Remove and allow to cool a little before serving

Notes

Sift the flour before you use with a flour sifter or a fine sieve then shake it over the mixing bowl to make sure there are no lumps

Honey is optional. Use more or less honey depending on level of sweetness desired.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 19mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 3g

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