Gateaux aux Marrons
Chestnut cake recipe is a dreamy, delicious way to delight friends and family on special occasions with creamy chestnut cake filling and chocolate glaze icing. A fantastic tea-time treat, festive delight, or birthday cake!
In French it is Gateâu Aux Marrons and is quite special.
It would also compliment any table for parties or special occasions and is a welcoming change at Christmas instead of the usual cakes and pastries.
What better way to use those beautiful seasonal chestnuts than in a dreamy chestnut cake!
Chestnuts can be cooked in different ways and this is just one way to use them in a lovely chestnut puree.
If you want to make your own puree, or indeed want to know other ways to enjoy them take a look at how to cook chestnuts.
More Delicious French Cake Recipes
- A Kugelhopf is a traditional cake from the Alsace in the east region of France. It has more of a German influence as this area was historically part of Germany. So twice good!
- How about a Dark Chocolate Cake indulgence!
📖 Recipe
Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."
Chestnut Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 eggs separate the whites and the yolks
- ½ cup light brown castor sugar
- ½ cup plain or all purpose flour
- scant ¼ cup cornflour
- 1 level teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sweetened chestnut puree
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup plain chocolate broken into pieces
- 1 tablespoon rum or coffee
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas 4
- Mix the egg yolks with the sugar until light and creamy.
- Sift together the flour, cornflour and baking powder.
- Whisk or beat the egg whites until stiff (make sure your bowl is completely clean with no traces of grease or egg yolk or they will not become stiff).
- Gently fold in the flour and the egg white, alternatively into the creamy yolk mixture.
- Pour into your greased cake pan (I like coconut oil) and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until firm to the touch.
- Cool on a wire tray.
- Prepare the filling by creaming the chestnut puree with softened butter. Do not place in the fridge as you want it to spread easily on the layers. Double the amount of filling if you want to cover the outside of the cake too before drizzling the glaze on the cake.How To Slice The Cake Horizontilly
- Use a pedestal cake plate to raise the cake up to as close to eye level as possible.
- Slice the cake when cold into three horizontally (if you do not have a long, thin, sharp knife that is half the width of the cake, then use a thick thread wrapped around your fingers.
- Insert 4 toothpicks into the sides of the cake at quarter intervals ⅓ of the way down from the top and again ⅓ up from the bottom of the cake, using a ruler to measure will help. The toothpicks will act as guides to help you stay horizontal as you cut the layers. If using a thread lay it on the toothpicks keeping the thread taught. When all the way around cross the threads and gently pull the threads as it cuts the cake. (Have 2 dinner plates ready to hold the two layers that will be lifted off.)Icing The Cake
- Fill each layer with the chestnut filling.
- Now prepare the chocolate icing by melting the broken chocolate in a small dish over a pan of hot water, a double boiler works perfect or a vegetable steamer with a heat proof bowl in the vegetable container. If you prefer to use your microwave, use short bursts of time, 30 seconds then stir, until melted, but be careful, I have burned chocolate this way more than once. ;-|
- Add the rum (or brandy) and remove from the heat and beat in the softened butter.
- Pour this lovely chocolate icing over your cake slowly. (Turn a glass upside-down and practice drizzling around the edge first before you do it on your cake.)
Loved it, tweaked it, or not your "cup of tea"... I’d really love to hear how it went for you.