If you enjoy the delicious combination of chocolate and chestnut and are looking for a recipe easier than the traditional chestnut log, try our Chocolate Chestnut Christmas Cake recipe. This easy-to-make cake will melt your heart with its very indulgent texture.
Ingredients
Here are the necessary ingredients to prepare a chocolate chestnut Christmas cake for 6 people:
200 g of dark baking chocolate.
125 g of unsalted butter.
300 g of frozen chestnut puree.
100 g of sugar.
1 packet of vanilla sugar.
60 g of flour.
1 packet of baking powder.
A knob of butter for the mold.
Icing sugar and Christmas figurines for decoration.
Note: For this recipe, I recommend using frozen chestnut puree. It comes in the form of small pellets and just needs to be defrosted in the refrigerator the day before to be incorporated into the cake batter.
Melted chocolate preparation
The first step in preparing a chocolate chestnut Christmas cake is to melt the dark chocolate with the butter in a double boiler.
1. Break the dark chocolate into pieces in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the softened butter cut into small pieces.
3. Heat water in a kettle to prepare a double boiler.
4. Place the bowl over the double boiler and melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring occasionally, until you get a smooth and shiny mixture.
Cake Batter Preparation
When your melted chocolate is ready, simply incorporate the other ingredients directly into the mixing bowl.
1. First add the sugar and the vanilla sugar.
2. Mix the baking powder with the flour, then sift these ingredients into the batter.
3. Finally, mix in the whole eggs to loosen the batter of the chocolate chestnut Christmas cake.
Cake mold preparation
I advise you to bake this Christmas chocolate chestnut cake in a square mold. This shape makes it easier to create the snowy decoration that will turn your simple chocolate fondant into a festive dessert.
1- Lightly butter a square-shaped mold.
2- Cut a large sheet of parchment paper and crumple it in your hands before lining the mold. The parchment paper adapts better to the shape of the mold when it is crumpled.
3- Pour the cake batter and use a spatula to even out the surface.
Chocolate Chestnut Fondant Baking
1- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
2- Bake the chocolate chestnut Christmas cake for 25 minutes.
Note: This cake may crack during baking, as shown in the picture below, due to its very soft texture. However, the snowy Christmas decoration can help conceal any imperfections.
Christmas cake decoration.
Let the chocolate chestnut Christmas cake cool completely before decorating it.
Dust the cake with a generous layer of powdered sugar to represent a snowy scene.
All that's left is to add Christmas decorations such as little figurines of reindeer, elves, or Santa Claus, or create edible decorations with pomegranate seeds and starfruit, for example.
You can also represent a snowy fir tree using two small stacked meringues. To hold everything together, simply use a sticky ingredient like white icing (royal icing) or melted chocolate.