Chestnut and chocolate cake

How to make a chestnut and chocolate cake.

As a good ourensano I love chestnuts and recently I got a jar of chestnut cream  on my monthly visit to Ourense. I can assure you that its flavor is close to ice brown .

The chestnut area in Ourense is very wide, in my town we have a lot of castiñeiros, almost every year my father collects about 200 kg. chestnuts.

But where they are most famous is in the Monterrey region, it is crowned by innumerable extensions of centennial chestnut trees. Municipalities such as Riós, Villardevós, Castrelo, … are internally linked to Brazil nuts , which was a food base for many centuries.

Proof of this is the European chestnut route, which is based in the municipality of Riós and its Magostos festival .

If you can’t find it, you can make your own chestnut cream or jam. With it it is impossible to go wrong, a combination of flavors of this exquisite fruit, chestnut, the touch of glace brown and a final touch of chocolate. I hope you like it and cheer up with it.

Preparation of the biscuit base

1. Melt the butter (use the microwave, it is faster, on low temperature about 2 minutes).
2. With the mincer we crush the cookies (if you do not have, in a kitchen cloth we throw the 30 cookies and wrap them and then crush them with a spoon or something heavy, it will not be so fine but it serves the same).
3. Add the melted butter on top. The dough will be hot and will be very manageable.
4. Add the tablespoon of vanilla essence. We can even add some chestnut flour or very chopped chestnut pieces to give it more flavor, this point is optional.
5. We take the cookie mixture and distribute it on the base of a large detachable mold, 22 cm in diameter.
6. Press against the bottom and on the sides with the help of a spoon or with your fingers and put in the oven for about 10 minutes at about 180º C to harden and evaporate the excess liquid a little.
7. We remove the mold and let cool to fill with the chocolate and chestnut cream.
8. We lower the oven temperature to 150º C and leave it that way while we prepare the cream.
9. If we are going to prepare the cream later we must put the oven to preheat.

Preparation of the chestnut cake and final assembly

1. We put the cream to heat in a saucepan over medium heat. When it is hot (without boiling, just hot) add the chocolate pieces and the drizzle of brown liquor. We leave over low heat to melt everything, help yourself with a wooden spoon.
2. In a bowl we put the eggs and sugar. Beat until smooth, creamy and not too frothy. We introduce the jam and the chestnut puree (if you do not find jam, you can use cream or chestnut puree only, adding 1 more tablespoon of sugar to the mixture). We remove the mixture without beating.
3. When the chocolate has melted with the cream, turn off the heat and set the mixture aside. We add the egg and chestnut mixture, mix well without beating and let stand off the heat.
4. We pour on the base of cookies all the mixture that we have reserved and introduce it in the preheated oven at 190º C between 30 and 40 minutes (as I mentioned in some other recipe, it all depends on the oven, always look with a fork that stays dry …).
5. We remove from the oven and let cool in the fridge for a few hours. We unmold.
6. Finally, sprinkle the cocoa powder with a strainer over the cake. A little advice, this dessert goes very well with a glass of iced coffee liqueur.

In almost all Ourense pastry shops in Magostos time you can find a delicious chestnut cake called “Tarta San Martiño” .

In the blog we have for several cakes with chestnuts: chestnut cake similar to San Martiño “Magostos” ,  chestnut and almond cake “Lucrecia” ,  this cream of nougat and chestnuts  and a chestnut flan that I recommend without a doubt.

Tips for a yummy tart

• Chestnuts can be found in the market from early autumn to late winter, in our calendar you can see all the ingredients that are in season. When buying them, it is important to take into account the condition of the skin, which must be shiny.
• To keep them at home, I advise you to store them in a dry and cool place, no plastic bags (they can catch mold). And in my case I always have a bag ready to grill, but in the freezer.
• I even remove the piece of chestnut so that you only have to roast it directly from the freezer to the oven, you can have them for a maximum of 6 months, perfect for when you have a craving for chestnuts in February.
• I recommend the Galician Chestnut PDO, of course, although the chestnuts from Bierzo and Extremadura (Valle del Jerte) are also of quality. This PGI is the best protection to control production and that it is of quality.
• The Galician chestnut is usually sold in the markets and for the manufacture of creams, jams and flour. The chestnut jam with which I have prepared this cake is made with Galician chestnut, sugar and a little condensed milk.