Torta di Castagne e Cioccolata
(Chocolate and Chestnut Cake)
Ingredients:
1 ounce plain white or Italian type 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
8 ounces chocolate with 70% cocoa solids
4 ounces unsalted butter
4 large range eggs, separated
11 ounces canned, sweetened chestnut puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 ounces caster sugar
Icing sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Grease and line a 8 inch deep round cake tin. Dust with flour.
Break the chocolate into a bowl and add the butter. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Take care not to overheat. Remove from the heat.
Sift the flour into a bowl, add the egg yolks, chestnut puree and vanilla extract and whisk together. Stir in the chocolate mixture.
Whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar until they just hold their shape, then gradually whisk in the sugar until stiff. Do not overbeat.
Add a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then the remaining whites.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer, inserted into the center, comes out moist but not sticky. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. It will have risen and then dropped slightly in the center.
When cold, turn out and dust with sifted icing sugar before serving.