Castagnaccio chestnut bread
I bought a bag of sweet chestnut flour intending to make the Tuscan speciality castagnaccio or chestnut bread, and some days ago I finally got round to it. The bread is a kind of cake, even though you don’t have to add sugar, if you have got a ‘dolce’ version of the flour. This, however, is only available for sale in Italy in the late autumn, so normal chestnut flour has to be sweetened. Still, it is a savoury cake that works best when served with some kind of cream like orange cream or ice cream and chocolate sauce. Alternatively, you could try the chestnut cake from Lunigania
My version turned out to have a cracked surface like a field after a drought, but judging from the other photos I’ve seen this is how it should be.
If you like chestnuts and visit Italy in the autumn and winter months remember to try the caldarroste street food specialty
Ingredients
250 g chestnut flour
(80 g powdered sugar – can be left out if you are using ‘farina dolce’)
375 ml water
50 g walnuts
50 g raisins
50 g pine nuts
A pinch of salt
Fresh rosemary
Olive oil
Preparation
Soak the raisins in boiling water
Mix flour and powdered sugar with water to a smooth paste
Squeeze off excess water from the raisins and stir them in the cake mixture along with walnuts and a pinch of salt.
Grease a round baking tin with olive oil
Pour in the cake mixture, decorate with pine nuts and rosemary
Bake at 180 C/350 F for 30 minutes
Castagnaccio chestnut bread can be served with ice cream or custard
I’m going to hunt for this flour today. I’ve been dying to make or bake anything with chestnuts. Thanks for posting!
Good luck – In Italy it’s only available a few months.
Yes, chestnuts available only in autumn in Italy. They are sleep-friendly and… castagnaccio is quite popular here.
Sleep friendly – how interesting. I mostly find them too mealy. Otherwise I would try some before going to bed.
The only thing I’ve ever done with chestnuts is use them in a stuffing for turkey. But this sounds divine.
I’m not a chestnut expert, and using them for stuffing sounds advanced to me. Do you need to bake the first?
Yum, saved it to make later! I love how it’s mostly naturally sweetened (entirely, if you get the right flour).
To me castagnaccio is an acquired taste, but it’s closely linked with autumn along the coast of Tuscany and Liguria, and a single bite is enough to take me back there.