Festive Desserts

I made two desserts for the Christmas period, as something chocolate is obligatory, but my daughter had also asked for a repeat of Dan Lepard's Mont Blanc Layer Cake.

The Mont Blanc Layer Cake recipe, based on meringue, is far too big for just three of us, particularly as it doesn't keep well, so I made a meringue roulade with only 3 egg whites, filled it with a half quantity of the chestnut and ricotta cream and drizzled melted chocolate over the top.

We decided, on trying the dessert, that although it was delicious, we all preferred the crisper meringue of the original recipe, which gives a better textural contrast with the chestnut cream than the soft meringue of the roulade.

For  the chocolate dessert, I made a half-sized quantity of Delia Smith's Chocolate Truffle Torte, which fitted nicely into a 7" (18cm) shallow cake tin. The only departure from the recipe was to use Amaretto liqueur instead of rum.

My daughter also contributed a batch of mince pies, which has become a tradition now. She uses this Mary Berry recipe, which adds dried apricots to the mincemeat and tops the tarts with grated marzipan.

Another Version of Chestnut Brownies

When I decided to make these I had three requirements of my chosen recipe - that it contained chocolate, that it was reasonably portable and that it used up the half tin of chestnut purée in the fridge. I was making a dessert for New Year's Day, but the children would be taking home any leftovers, as we still have tons of Christmas goodies to finish up!

Brownies seemed the obvious answer, but my previous attempt at chestnut brownies (Dan Lepard's recipe) used whole chestnuts rather than purée, and weren't loved by everyone here. Choclette, at Chocolate Log Blog, had adapted Dan's recipe to use chestnut purée, and I made slight adaptations to her recipe which I hoped would make the result more chewy and brownie-like, rather than melt in the mouth.

I upped the sugar content, as I like sweet chewy brownies (and I was using unsweetened purée) and reduced the chestnut purée (to use the amount I had available!). Choclette often bakes with duck eggs, but I used large hen's eggs, keeping the number at two, in the interests of getting the more cake-like
texture I wanted. I also baked in a smaller pan to give deeper brownies. So, I used:

175g butter, 200g 70% plain chocolate, 225g dark muscovado sugar, 200g unsweetened chestnut purée, 2 large eggs, 100g spelt flour

I followed Choclette's standard method for making brownies, melting the chocolate and butter together, then beating in the sugar and chestnut purée until the batter was smooth. The eggs were then beaten in, one at a time, and lastly, the spelt flour was folded in. The batter was quite thick by this stage and needed spreading and levelling in the baking tin. (This batter didn't spread or flow as it started to warm up in the oven, so I recommend smoothing the top carefully to avoid unsightly lumps and bumps on the finished brownies.) I baked in a 8"(20cm) tin, for 25minutes at 170C, by which time only damp crumbs clung to a test probe. After cooling in the tin, I cut the cake into 16 portions. (I cut the brownies while they were still slightly warm, to try and get a photo or two before the light was too bad, and they were quite fragile while still warm)

The brownies weren't quite the texture I'd hoped for - I'd call them truffle-like - so I didn't quite achieve what I wanted, but they made a great dessert, eaten with whipped cream! After cutting, I was worried that they would be too fragile to pack up and transport, but they firmed up a lot as they cooled completely. I don't think unsweetened chestnut purée has as strong a flavour as sweetened, so here the chestnut was very much a subtle backnote, rather than a predominant flavour.

I still didn't manage to get many good photos, and all the leftovers went home with FB and CT, so there was nothing to photograph the next day, either! Poor light is one of the curses of winter baking!

Limoncello Tart with Amaretti Crumb Base

This dessert was one of  several available over the Christmas period. I made it for Christmas Eve and only two portions were eaten at that meal, so it reappeared on the dinner table for the next couple of days too. I'd been looking for ages for a suitable dessert incorporating some of the limoncello I brought back from Italy in the Autumn, and this proved to be an excellent use for it.

I used this recipe from Proud Italian Cook, as the tart filling seemed particularly easy compared to some I'd found, and I liked the idea of using Amaretti crumbs in the base. I bought a 250g pack of crunchy Amaretti biscuits and used all but the 4 I tried for quality control purposes (!) in the base. I used 125g melted butter, as I would for other biscuit crumb bases, then followed the recipe exactly as written for the filling and cooking instructions.

Once chilled I gave the tart some festive decoration with crystallised lemon zest chopped really finely and some sugar snowflakes. The decoration was meant to form a large star on top of the tart, but this was a little ill-defined, as I couldn't lay the stencil directly on top of the tart because it was too delicate and stuck to anything that touched it, even briefly. I found that out when I tried to cover it with cling-film, which was the reason I needed the decoration in the centre of the tart - I'd originally intended to add a border of the decorations.

The tart filling was wonderful - soft, creamy and quite delicious - almost like lemon curd straight from the jar. I usually prefer my lemon tarts to be sharper than was the case here, but the balance of the lemon flavour and the creamy texture, against the almost bitter Amaretti biscuits in the crunchy crumb crust was just right.

I'm not sure how much extra flavour the limoncello added, compared to using more lemon juice; and I'm not sure if the alcohol would have cooked out in such a short baking time, but I'll definitely be using this part of the recipe again.

Unfortunately, although the crumb crust tasted good, the crumbs hadn't absorbed all the butter and a lot had leaked out during cooking. It also made the texture of the crust a little greasy, although this wasn't bad enough to spoil the overall experience. I think in future I might try using part Amaretti biscuits and part a more absorbent biscuit such as digestives or oat biscuits, and also cutting down on the butter a little. It would also be a good filling to use with a pastry or almond shortbread crust.

The second of my Christmas desserts isn't worth a separate post, as I wasn't able to get any good photographs. I made a pavlova case which I filled with some of this olive-oil based chocolate mousse, then topped with a half quantity of the chestnut and ricotta cream from this Dan Lepard recipe. I was trying to make a more chocolatey, but smaller, version of Dan's Mont Blanc Gateau, and although it was delicious, it failed miserably in the looks department. I filled the pavlova case just before serving, and with hindsight, I should have used a piping bag for the chestnut cream. As there was no natural light by that time, it wouldn't have improved the photographs, but it might have made the dish little more presentable. The pavlova was a little overbaked too, so was pale brown instead of snowy white.

Chestnut and Hazelnut Cake - Gluten- and Dairy-free

 I needed an autumnal cake or dessert which was both gluten- and dairy-free, for a forthcoming lunch for friends. Although I like to cook new recipes on these occasions, I prefer to try them at least once before cooking for guests, so planning meals often starts a few weeks ahead.  I also wanted to use some of the hazelnuts we foraged last month, which have a very intense flavour now that they've matured in the shell.

On top of all that I was looking for baked desserts with an Italian theme, and chestnuts frequently cropped up in my searches. I did actually try to buy chestnut flour while on holiday in Italy recently, but we didn't find any good food shops - only small delicatessens selling pre-packed goods for tourists to bring home. We were on a busy touring schedule, so didn't have the time or means to go looking for  shops which might have stocked it - I could only try those we passed while sightseeing. However, chestnut purée is readily available here, so I decided to use that instead.

I found two recipes that looked good; this one from Betty's Cookery School, even though it wasn't gluten-free, because it used hazelnuts, and this one from Azélia's Kitchen, because it was free from dairy and gluten, used more chestnut purée and added a little fat. I decided to use the recipe from Azélia's Kitchen, but use half ground hazelnuts and add some chopped hazelnuts too. I also left out the lemon zest, because I didn't have any, and really just wanted to know how well the recipe worked, rather than get exactly the same flavour. I used sunflower oil instead of melted butter.


The recipe was easy to follow, thanks to the very comprehensive instructions on the Azélia's Kitchen website. The most time consuming factor was shelling enough hazelnuts to get 150g, toasting them and then working to get the skins off. This process took as long as mixing and baking the cake! Where Azélia used 200g ground almonds, I used 100g ground almonds, 100g ground hazelnuts and 50g of chopped hazelnuts.

The volume of cake batter was huge - almost filling a 20cm round, 7cm deep cake tin - but the cake didn't rise much during cooking; it was more like a mousse setting to a soft, moist texture than a cake baking. I tested the cake for 'doneness' with a colour-changing probe, as Azélia mentioned that a test probe would come out clean even when the batter was still undercooked; the tip of the probe changes colour from black to red when the cake is done. When the cake came out of the oven, I ran a knife between the cake and the tin to loosen it, as I've seen that recommended in recipes where the cake is likely to sink while cooling. It's supposed to stop the centre sinking more than the edges, but that still happened to some extent. I think this is because the edges are more solid than the centre due to the crust formed during baking. I've seen this type of cake baked in a bain marie, but I guess that would add a lot to the cooking time.

We both really liked this cake, although it was definitely more of a desert than a tea-time cake. The texture was very moist but light and mousse-like, although this doesn't really come through in the photos. My foraged hazelnuts gave the cake it's dominant flavour, and overwhelmed any evidence of the chestnuts, but I'd expected this as chestnut purée is easily lost in stronger flavours. Azélia covered the cake with a chocolate frosting, and I think I will do this next time, both for a contrast in flavours and an improved look, but we just ate the cake plain this time. It would also be good to add some whipped cream or crème fraiche, but that's not for everyday eating either!

I didn't get many good photos of this cake, due to the usual problems with making a brown lump look interesting, so you'll have to believe that it tasted much, much better than it looked!

Dan Lepard's Mont Blanc Layer Cake

Christmas desserts are a difficult area. After a big meal, forcing down a traditional rich Christmas pudding can feel like a chore rather than the delight that a dessert should be. Tastes are changing too - so many people don't even like  Christmas pudding nowadays, which is a very puzzling phenomenon to me. Neither of my children eat Christmas pudding, so with no Christmas Day guests it was going to be  pointless to produce one.

This year, I dithered so long trying to decide what to make that FB stepped in and produced this recipe for a tower of meringue and chestnut cream from her recipe file. I'm not very experienced with meringues, but the recipe seemed simple enough and there was no-one here but family to see if it didn't turn out well.

Fortunately things turned out well, after an initial miscalculation with the circle sizes for the meringue layers, which almost had me making 6" circles instead of 7". I don't even know why I tried to translate the centimetre measurements to inches in the first place as I usually consider myself bilingual in baking weights and measures!  I had a little weeping on one of the meringue layers, but not enough to spoil the appearance of the dessert, once it was constructed.

The only thing I changed about the dessert construction was to leave off the 'peak' of whipped cream on the top. This was because I didn't read the instructions properly and didn't have the time or energy to whip extra cream or pipe the chestnut cream at the last minute stage, as I had left the assembly until just before serving. I think I only added about 4 tablespoons of extra sugar to the chestnut cream, but I was just pouring it from the bag and tasting as I beat everything together. It was difficult to decide how sweet to make the cream as the sweetness of the meringues had to be considered - I stopped adding sugar just before I felt the cream was sweet enough to eat alone.

This was a great choice for a dessert to follow a large meal - light but still rich enough to seem special! We were all surprise by how subtle and mild the flavour of the chestnut purée was, but it gave extra body to the creamy layer and balanced the sweetness of the meringue. The general consensus was that the dessert needed more chocolate for a better flavour, but we are a family of chocoholics - more is always better! I was a little concerned about how well the meringue would hold up after the dessert was constructed, so I made a warm chocolate sauce to serve with the leftovers on the second day, in case the meringue was too soggy. This got everyone's approval as an improvement over the original. Although the dessert kept fairly well, it was collapsing a bit by the second day, so is something that ideally should be eaten all at once.

Chestnut Chocolate Cookies - Party Style!

Here's another batch of the fabulous  Chocolate Chestnut Cookies,  this time piped into fingers, and prettied up to attend a Christmas party!

A bit of an improvement, I think! I'm also going to confess that it's the first time I've tried chocolate dipping - I should have melted a lot more to get an even dip.

Dan Lepard's Chestnut Chocolate Cookies

After seemingly months with none of Dan's weekly recipes in the Guardian newspaper inspiring me to immediate action, along come two in quick succession.

After the Lime Marble Cake, comes this recipe for Chestnut and Chocolate Cookies  from last week's supplement on Christmas cooking, and the first thing I'm going to say is that it shows that the Guardian photographer is a professional, and that whoever made that batch of cookies is better at piping than I am! I'm afraid that a lot of my attempts at piping 'long zigzags' looked like something usually found on pavements, and there was no way my photography skills could make them look attractive! I realised halfway through piping what they were going to look like and tried a few circles, which worked out much better.

However, what these cookies lacked in appearance they make up for in flavour and texture. The crisp exterior gives way to a soft, moist, melt-in-the-mouth centre that is really rich in deep chocolate flavour. The recipe made twelve cookies, the way I piped them, and eating two of them really felt like a chocolate overload - which is not something I get to say often! I wouldn't recognise any of the flavour as chestnut, but I think it helped develop the glorious flavour and wonderful texture.

The cookies weren't difficult to make, but piping the fairly stiff dough made me realise that I need to update my piping equipment. The heat and pressure of my hands melted the butter in the dough, which seeped through my fabric piping bag and made my hands greasy. Has anyone tried the new silicone piping bags which are available now?

I've been asked to make these again for FB to take to a Chrismas party at work. I think I'll pipe them all as smaller circles and pop something like a slice of marron glacé, or even a half of glacé cherry, into the centre to make them look more attractive.

The theme for this months Tea Time Treats, in the run-up to Christmas, is Chocolate, so I'm entering these indulgent cookies to this blogging event. They are the sort of cookies which would be a great addition to any tea-table, but especially so at Christmas when something is needed to counteract the potential overdose of dried fruit in Christmas cake, mincepies and stollen (much as I love them all!). The full rules for Tea Time Treats, a monthly challenge to produce goodies for the tea-table, can be found here. TTT is hosted alternately by Karen from Lavender and Lovage, and Kate from What Kate Baked, and it was Kate who set this challenge, and has the unenviable task of producing the round-up of entries at a very busy time of year. Good luck with that, Kate!

Chestnut Brownies

There were mixed feelings here, about Dan Lepard's  recent recipe for Chestnut Brownies. Yes, they tasted rich and decadent, boozy and well flavoured, but they also had such a soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture that they didn't fit into either of the usual brownie categories - they weren't moist and cakey nor dense and chewy. Eating one was more like eating a mousse - it was almost a surprise that you weren't spooning it out of a dish.

We weren't too sure about the chestnuts, either. I liked the added texture of the almost-candied little chunks, but felt they didn't add much to the flavour, whereas Hubs really disliked them and felt they spoiled the brownies and were a waste of an expensive ingredient. If the recipe had been promoted as a dessert, and served with a scoop of ice cream or creme fraiche then I'm sure we would have liked it more! Expecting a more  traditional brownie, we were slightly disappointed!

The recipe wasn't really complicated, although there were several unusual steps, such as making a meringue from egg whites and brown sugar and then beating in the egg yolks. Because I didn't think things through very carefully, I used several bowls more than I needed to, as I had to move some ingredients into bigger bowls before I could go onto the next stage. My only deviation from the recipe was that I only had 200g of chestnuts - not the specified 240g. I used dark muscovado sugar to mix with the chestnuts and light muscovado sugar with the egg whites, as my dark sugar was a bit lumpy! Although I cooked the brownies until a cocktail stick was clean when poked into the centre, they were still very moist - I think a minute or two more cooking might have been better.

Because I can't make up my mind whether I like these or not, I think this is recipe which will probably eventually just get forgotten about - although not for a while, as my daughter wants  them for her birthday visit home in a few week's time.

Chestnut Chocolate Cream Biscuits

I don't often fuss around with individual cakes and biscuits that have several stages before they are complete; I'd much rather make a big cake or a traybake and portion it out as needed. However, today is the first day of the New Year and in the post-Christmas lull I had plenty of time to spare. I couldn't resist these neat little Chestnut Chocolate Cream Biscuits from Dan Lepard, which have the added advantage of using some of my Christmas leftovers.
I don't have a full size food processor, so I used my Braun mini-chopper and divided the chestnuts and sugar into two portions, then used an electric handmixer to beat in the butter.
I also used Tia Maria rather than brandy in the cream filling - it just happened to be the most suitable liqueur I had available.

I didn't have any problems with the recipe, and was really pleased with how well both the biscuits and filling turned out. They even look very similar to Dan's own photo on his site - always something of a surprise!
The biscuits have a very subtle flavour - I'm not sure I'd know it was chestnut - and the texture is soft and crumbly rather than crisp. The chocolate cream filling is really tasty and I'm sure I'll find a use for it with other biscuit recipes. My only tiny criticism is that, for me, there was too much filling for the number of biscuits made - I used the leftover filling to sandwich digestive biscuits together.