Chestnut Flour Cake Castagnaccio Food

CASTAGNACCIO PUGLIESE (CHESTNUT FLOUR CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Prepare a 9-inch cake pan by lightly brushing it with olive oil. Reserve.
• In a large bowl, swift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, eggs and milk.
• Slowly pour the liquids into the dry ingredients, whisking very well to avoid lumps. The batter should be smooth and a bit liquidy.
• Reserve some of the nuts and fruits to sprinkle on top of cake. Add the remaining to the batter, mixing until evenly distributed.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the nuts/fruits on top and bake for 35 minutes, or until the cake begins to puff slightly and the middle is set. Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing from pan.
• Dust lightly with confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder and serve with some warm honey.

CHESTNUT FLOUR CAKE: CASTAGNACCIO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place the raisins in a ramekin of water to soften for 20 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift the chestnut flour. Add the sugar, orange zest, and pinch of salt, mix well and then gently start adding the water to the mix.
• Using an electric hand mixer, beat the mixture well making sure to eliminate any lumps, then add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and half of the raisins and mix again.
• Lightly oil an 11-inch pie plate with 2-inch sides with olive oil and pour in the batter it should be no more than 1/3-inch thick. Sprinkle the cake with rosemary leaves, the remaining softened raisins, walnuts, and pine nuts. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and bake for about 40 minutes.

CHESTNUT FLOUR CAKE: CASTAGNACCIO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, and water. Whisk the batter well until the batter is silky smooth in consistency.
• Add the olive oil to a nonstick pie pan and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Once the oil and pie pan are hot, add the batter. Smooth out the batter evenly. Sprinkle the raisins, pine nuts, rosemary and orange zest on top.
• Bake the cake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the top is golden.