Recipe Desserts & Sweet Treats
Bregaglia Chestnut Cake
The chestnut cake is a specialty from the Grisons southern valley Val Bregaglia. It captivates with a juicy filling of chestnut puree, encased in crispy shortcrust pastry.
Ingredients
Dough
- 250 g light spelt flour
- 120 g butter
- 70 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of salt
Filling
- 175 g peeled chestnuts
- 200 g chestnut puree
- 180 g butter
- 180 g sugar
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp white flour
Preparation
- Cream the softened butter. Add sugar, stir. Add egg, stir. Add flour and salt, combine to form a dough. Chill for at least 1 hour.
- Line the bottom of a tart or springform pan (approx. 26 cm Ø) with baking paper, grease the rim.
- For the base, roll out two-thirds of the dough 6 mm thick to the size of the pan bottom. Place in the pan. For the rim, roll out the rest of the dough 7 mm thick, cut into 3 cm wide strips. Place along the pan, connect with the dough base. Prick the base several times with a fork. Chill.
- Steam chestnuts until soft, cut into small pieces, let cool. Cream the softened butter. Add sugar, stir. Separate eggs. Add one egg yolk at a time, stirring until the mixture is pale. Add chestnut puree and flour, stir briefly. Beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites and chopped chestnuts.
- Spread the filling over the dough. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 °C for approx. 60 minutes. Let cool. Remove from the pan.
- The chestnut cake tastes best with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Our Tip
For a subtle smoky aroma, replace the wheat flour in the filling with flour made from smoked chestnuts.
