Tort di Castagne - Chestnut Cake

I have these Chestnuts in the fridge which is quite impossible to finish by some savoury cooking. I remembered I baked this cake once last year. It tasted moist and special, because there's no flour in it, the whole cake is bake only chestnut and other nuts, so it's gluten free. Chestnut is the only nuts carry Vitamin C, although I have no idea the amount of it after cooking and baking. It just give me the idea, it's good... :D

Ingredients :

• 500g Chestnuts peeled
  
• 250ml milk
  
• 170g brown sugar
• 100g melted butter
  
• 6pc egg yolks
  
• 100g chopped almonds (walnuts)
• 100g chocolate chips
  
• 50ml rum or brandy
• 1 pc lemon (juice and zest)
• 6pc egg whites
• some flour to coat the cake tin
  

Methods :

1. Brush the cake tin with some melted butter and lightly flour.
2. Place the peeled chestnuts in the milk with a little sugar (from 170g), bring to boil and simmer for approximately 15 mins until soft.
3. Puree the chestnuts in a food processor (by small amount, it will be easier, alternately you could mash in a big bowl)
   
4. Beat the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl, whisk until thickened. Pour and mix with Chestnuts.
5. Add in the melted butter, chopped almonds, chocolate chips, zest and juice of lemon and rum or brandy and combine.
6. Whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage and fold in gently into the above mixture.
   
7. Pour batter into prepared cake tin. Bake at 175C for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in the cake tin and run a knife at the side before remove.

Coffee Butter Cake

It's been a while since my last post. In between this, I've bake some cookies and pandan layer cake. Then I decide to bake something that I never bake before. It's coffee cake!
I've never fancy coffee cake. My the other half doesn't drink coffee at all, so it's a risk I am doing it.. LOL.
Anyway, I mixed coffee with rum and surprisingly, he didn't find it irritated his tongue.. :P
When I took out from the oven, the rum fragrant immerse the whole house.
The cake taste real moist and nice, I think it's a keeper.


Ingredients :

• 300g butter
• 220g brown sugar
• 275g plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 5 eggs
• 2 shots of expresso (or you can use 1tsp instant coffee powder)
• 1 1/2 tsp rum

Methods :

1. Sift flour, baking powder together 3 times.
2. Beat sugar, butter together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, until blended (approx 1 min before adding another one), on higher speed until the mixture become pale.
3. Add half of the dry ingredients at a time, alternating with coffee and rum mixture. Beat in low speed.
4. Add the rest of the flour by folding method and alternate with coffee and rum.
5. Pour batter into pre-line 22cm ring pan. Bake at 170C for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans.