Cherry-Chestnut Cake

My first blog birthday is here. In a few days it’ll be one year that my first blog entry went online. Of course, a birthday must be celebrated with a birthday cake and so I experimented and created something new and delicious for you, and also for me: a Cherry-Chestnut Cake. My first venture was already quite successful, according to my testers. Nevertheless, I wasn’t 100% satisfied with what I had created, but this version is nothing to sneeze at, I think. My Cherry-Chestnut Cake is a hazelnut cake with a cherry and white chocolate-chestnut layer. And of course, topped with a chocolate ganache. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

All these different layers sound like a lot of work and I want to be honest with you, this cake is certainly not made in half an hour. But a birthday deserves a special cake. Don’t you think so?

The hazelnut cake is a soft, fluffy and nutty sponge cake. The cherry filling is made with canned cherries, cherry juice and custard powder and this is very quickly prepared. The white chocolate and chestnut cream involves more steps, but it’s certainly not complicated. What you’ll need, though, is time and patience, because the cake needs to be chilled for several hours or overnight before you can top it with the chocolate ganache. But then you’ll certainly receive plenty of praises as this cake doesn’t only look stunning but also tastes amazing.

Before writing this blog post I thought what I’d write about for this special occasion. It became quite clear very quickly that I simply want to say thank you to all the people who have supported me in my first year of blogging, who have motivated and inspired me. The most important person is my husband. Even if he keeps telling me that he loves my blogging as this brings him good food on a daily basis, I believe that it isn’t always fun for him, too. After all, I usually cook a dish two to three times before it is ready to be posted. And this means serving the same meal on three consecutive days. And, what is more, on the third day I also need to photograph my cooking, something that is not done in a minute but often takes half an hour. So by the time the dish finally stands in front of my husband it is often cold. I also believe that my new shopping enthusiasm for all things food, kitchen equipment, flea market articles and photography props doesn’t quite correspond with my husband’s idea of shopping. So, as you can see, he is the main victim of my blogging addiction and therefore deserves the biggest thank you.

My sons Lukas and Matthias and Lukas‘ girlfriend Alena also deserve my sincere thanks. They always provide me with important feedback when testing my new dishes and their social media knowhow is of invaluable importance to me. Thank you!

Another big thank you and big hugs go to my friends and loyal subscribers who eagerly read my blog posts, cook my recipes enthusiastically and give me invaluable feedback.

And then there’s the wide world of fellow food bloggers. This is a real community. They stick together and there’s no rivalry. You get support whenever possible. We chat on our blogs, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. But most of all, they are a tremendous source of inspiration. I already had the chance to personally meet some of the Austrian bloggers and I can say, that each and everyone does an amazing work on her blog. From Austria, there’s Fraulein Gluecklich, Living on Cookies, Baking Barbarine, KA.KU.KO, Giftigeblonde and Fliederbaum. And of course, there’s Nora from Seelesachen-Fotografie, who shot my Afternoon Tea series. My favorite blogs from Germany are Kochgehilfin, Frau Zuckerfee, gerne kochen, Tricky Tine, Cucina d’amore, Das Knusperstuebchen, tinastausendschön herdgeschichten and foodlovin’. The huge number of bloggers in the English speaking world, who made it possible to expand my network right to Sweden, the USA and Canada are Myntans kitchen from Schweden, Ciao Chow Bambina, Vanilla and Bean, Cinnamon and sugar and a little bit of murder, Butter Basil and Breadcrumbs, Butter and Brioche, Broma Bakery, Hapanom and Salty Sweet Life from the USA and Teta Lizza and Old Fat Guy from Canada. Thank you!

A final big thank you goes out to my many fans, followers and friends who keep sending me nice comments and who like and follow me in the various social media and repost, retweet and share my posts. Thank you!

Right, but now it’s time for my birthday cake.

Cherry-Chestnut Cake

for 1 cake (10 inch cake tin):
8 eggs
¾ – 1 cup (180 g) sugar
some vanilla extract
some salt
¼ cup (40 g) dry bread crumbs
½ cup (60 g) all purpose flour
1 and ⅔ cups (200 g) ground hazelnuts
¼ cup (60 g) melted butter

for the cherry filling:
⅔ lb (300 g) canned cherries (pitted)
½ cup (100 ml) cherry juice
3 tablespoons vanilla custard powder or corn starch

for the chocolate-chestnut cream filling:
7 ounces (200 g) plain white chocolate
6 sheets of gelatin (or 3 teaspoons (10 g) gelatin powder)
2 egg yolks at room temperature
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (= orange-flavored cognac liqueur; optional)
⅔ cups mascarpone
1 and ⅔ cups whipping cream
6 ounces (180 g) riced chestnuts (or chestnut puree), thawed if frozen

for the chocolate ganache:
8 ounces (220 g) dark chocolate
½ cup (120 g) butter

for garnishing:
some chestnuts and some cherries

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4. Grease an 10 inch (25 cm) cake tin with butter and dust it with flour.

For the cake, beat the egg yolks with the sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy. Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Melt the butter and add it to the egg yolks and sugar. Beat until well combined. Combine the breadcrumbs and the flour in a separate bowl. Carefully fold the egg whites into the egg yolk-sugar mixture. Add the breadcrumbs and flour and carefully fold them in, too. Add the ground hazelnuts and fold them in. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 50 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Drain the cherries and chop them coarsely. Put most of the cherry juice into a small pan. Mix the rest with the vanilla custard powder until all lumps have dissolved. Bring the juice to the boil and whisk in the vanilla custard powder. Whisk constantly as the mixture begins to thicken very quickly. Once it starts to bubble remove from the heat and fold in the cherries. Allow to cool completely.

For the chocolate-chestnut cream filling soak the sheets of gelatin in cold water (or prepare the gelatin powder according to the instructions on the package). Slowly melt the white chocolate in a large enough bowl over steam or in a water bath. (Don’t overheat the chocolate and avoid contact with steam.) Remove the bowl with the melted chocolate from the heat and beat in the egg yolks, the Grand Marnier and the mascarpone. Dissolve the gelatin and beat it into the chocolate mixture. Whip the cream and fold it into the chocolate mixture. Fold the riced chestnuts into the chocolate cream. If you use chestnut puree beat it into the chocolate mixture before adding the whipped cream. Allow to cool and stiffen a bit.

Take the cake out of the tin and cut it horizontally into two halves. Spread the cherry filling over the the bottom part of the cake, then add another layer of the chocolate-chestnut cream filling (use only about ⅓ of the filling!). Place the top part of the cake on the cream filling and press down lightly. If you use a cake ring you can prevent any spilling on the side. Remove the cake ring and spread the rest of the chocolate-chestnut cream on the top and the side.

Leave to chill for at least 4 hours, but best overnight.

For the chocolate ganache break the chocolate into chunks and slowly melt the butter and the chocolate in a pan. Stir constantly until the chocolate has melted and the ganache is very smooth and shiny. Don’t overheat it but remove from the heat the moment the chocolate has melted. Let the ganache cool until it starts to drip thickly from the spoon. Spread over the top of the cake and allow to run down the sides. Use a spatula to spread equally. Allow the ganache to firm up a bit before decorating the cake with the chestnuts and the cherries.

Thank you for celebrating with me!

If you like my food blog and want to make me a little present, I’d be delighted if you’d subscribe to my newsletter (in case you haven’t done that already).

And here is the recipe for printing: