Double layered Dark Chocolate and Chestnut Cake


Life is short.

“When we come face to face with death, we think of our life. Death is a picture of a life lived. That’s why when we go to wakes; we talk about how the person lived her life with you. We sit quietly and think about our own lives; how we live it. Living a life worth living is living a life with purpose.” I come across these lines as a sermon given by a priest on a wake's mass. It smashed me right into the face.

I used to see halloween and November 1 & 2 celebrations' as a joyful event where I see my cousins, we play costumes, we eat, we play cards, everything was just about fun. But since dad passed away last year this has metamorphosed into a solemn and reflective moment for me to remember him. I know dad wanted me to remember him on a cheerful note but this is so hard for me to do. For I terribly miss my dad and that there is no single moment of the day that I don't think about him.

Hope you all had a "happy halloween" and a memorable "all soul's day celebration"!

I am sending over a slice of this chocolate chestnut cake over at Haalo of Cook Almost Anything the new caretaker and this week's host of Weekend Herb Blogging. WHB is a delicious weekly event created by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.






Ingredients:
(make a 20cm round cake)

4 eggs
100g of sugar
4g of salt
140g cake flour
30g salad oil
30g fresh milk

for the filling
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup of puréed sweetened chestnut

For the chocolate frosting:
2 1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce of dark chocolate
1/4 cup of butter
2 tablespoons of heavy cream

Procedure:

For the sponge cake
Start by sifting the flour, set aside. Grease and line a 20cm round pan, set aside. Pre-heat oven at 180degC. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar & salt on high speed for about seven minutes or until the batter doubles in volume and is ribbon-like texture. Turn to low speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Add sifted flour into the batter. With a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. With a spatula, mix about 1/3 of the batter with the salad oil in a separate bowl. Fold in this mixture into the remaining batter. This will help ensure that oil will be fully blended and at the same time will not deflate the batter. Add in fresh milk and fold in gently. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Unmold and cool completely.

For the filling
With an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream still stiff. Fold in the puréed sweetened chestnut and set aside.

For the chocolate frosting:
Start by melting chocolate in a bain marie. In a mixing bowl, cream confectioners' sugar, melted chocolate and butter. Beat in heavy cream. Add small amounts hot water or hot black coffee until desired spreading consistency is reached.

Assembly of the cake:

Slice the cake horizontally into 2 layers. Place one of the cake layers cut-side down on a cake plate. Spread the whipped cream with chestnut purée over the layer. Top with the second cake layer, cut-side up. Spread over your chocolate frosting and decorate with almond shivels.

30 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What gorgeous flavors! That cake must be divine!

Cheers,

Rosa

haze said...

I'd like to have a bite of this yummylicous dessert.

Kalyn Denny said...

Beautiful photos! The cake looks fantastic.

Marysol said...

You know, my wheels came screeching to a halt upon reading the title. Dark chocolate always gets me.

Finla said...

I am not allowed to make thigs chocolate for a while a smy family think i make too much chocolate things, so if you like you can send this delicous cake to me also.
Here too yesterday and today ppla are remembering their loved one who left them.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Simply divine, I couldn't resist a piece of that gorgeous!

lululu said...

touching lines!
sorry about your lose!
beautiful cake, love the additional chestnut!

Gloria Baker said...

Dear Dhanggit your feelings are normal because you love a lot your Dad and missed him, but dear he is near you and your fmily.
This Cake is awesome and nice!!
huggsssss dear sister! besooos gloria

Juliana said...

Chocolate and chestnut? Sounds and looks great...what a combination of flavors...yummie!

K and S said...

great tribute to your Dad.

Anonymous said...

Goodness - this looks develishly good!
Ronelle

Unknown said...

On all souls day our thoughts do turn to our loved ones who have passed on. This cake is a fabulous way to remember and celebrate your dad's life. I didn't know that Halloween was celebrated in France?

joey said...

Yum ... you are very talented and your blog, delicious! I stand with my dear friend, Marysol, in a shared passion for dark chocolate. Thanks for visiting but now I'm leaving, starved :)

Christo Gonzales said...

what a delicious looking cake you have made here...I would love to taste it!

Anh said...

I love the photos. Yours are just getting better and better!

Haalo said...

Beautiful cake and a beautiful post.

Manggy said...

Hi Dhang,
Don't worry about it-- even if it's not what your dad wanted, I'm sure he knows you enough to know that it would be very hard for you to move on from your loss. In time, it'll all be better, I promise :)
M.

Talita said...

Wow!! So impressive and beautiful!

Gabi said...

Lovely cake! Moments of reflection about those whom we've lost are the bittersweet seasonings of a well lived life. Blessed all souls to you dearie!

Kristine said...

Hi Dhanggit,

I'm from Boston and I've been searching for recipes online. I just bought a crockpot and chanced upon your beef caldereta blog earlier. And now I'm browsing through your dessert recipes - keep up the good work!

Kristine

Steph said...

Your chestnut cake is beautiful. I'm especially curious about the filling. You can never go wrong with whipped cream, but the chestnut filling must make it even yummier.

♥peachkins♥ said...

chocolate and chestnut in a cake. hmnn.. I hope I can get a slice of that here...

Laura in Paris said...

Dicine .. will you invite me for tea?

Hannah said...

Oh, chocolate and chestnuts go together so well, this sounds absolutely heavenly!

daphne said...

sublime! That is worth all the calories in the world!

Noob Cook said...

decadent and divine. I don't mind double servings of this double layered cake ;)

Kristine said...

Hi Hilda. Thanks for popping by my site. I see that you love baking. I'm trying my hand on it too. We've just moved to France from the UK. I'd like to try out some cake recipes but couldn't believe it when I can't find Baking Powder, Bicarbonate of Soda, Cream of Tartar in Carrefour. Obviously, I look for their French translation but can't find it. What do you use?

Kristine said...

thanks. ok will check on the 'levure'. Currently, I import them- which is rather silly. This is France, for Almighty's sake, they excel on patisseries and all things like that.

Sasha said...

This soup looks delicious!

I love your blog, your daughter is adorable and I'm jealous that you live in Southern France...

: )

redfullmoon said...

hi, this is a bit late in the day. I saw the french version of the recipe for this and checked if there was an english version because i'd like to make this in the future. I was a wee bit perplexed by the difference in measurements though, because here you say you use 1 ounce dark chocolate (= 56.699 grams according to my converter) and lots of sugar which made my hair stand on end hehe. Anyway, in your french recipe it's 150 g dark chocolate. I was wondering if there's been a typo or something or are the two recipes different variations of each other? I'd appreciate your feedback! :D