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.