I was going through some of my older newsletters and found this one with tips on using Chesnut Flour,a speciality here. Since so many are gluten free, I thought you might like to try these recipes.
One of the typical products from the hills around Florence are the chestnuts. When they come into season in the fall, you will find vendors roasting chestnuts on the street corners in town. In weekly markets during the year, if you are lucky, you will find someone making the Necci chestnut flour crepes, which you can get topped with sheep's milk ricotta, a personal favorite. Another use for chestnut flour is a dessert called Castagnaccio; castagno is Italian for chestnut. I made it when I worked as their pastry chef at the Centro Vegetariano restaurant in Florence.
It is not a favorite of mine, probably because it looks like a dense brownie, but the flavor is not chocolatey at all—quite a shock. I found a large bag of chestnut flour leftover from making the crepes and wanted to try making a gluten-free cake.
Chestnut Flour Cupcakes
1½ cups chestnut flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
½ cups raisins
⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
⅓ cup raisins, soaked and drained
rosemary needles removed from the branches
2 tbs sugar
In a large bowl, swift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, eggs and milk.
Slowly pour the liquids into the dry ingredients, whisking very well to avoid lumps. The batter should be smooth and a bit liquidy.
Add the raisins, pinenuts and walnuts into the mixture and stir to combine.
Grease your cupcake tin. Fill 3/4 of the way up.
Chop the rosemary needles with the granulated sugar. Sprinkle on top of the cupcakes.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Simple Chestnut Crepes/Necci
These little crepes are sold filled with Sheep’s milk ricotta. My vendor has now retired, and her grandson continues. Piazza Santo Spirito market, once a month.
Blend 1 cup of chestnut flour with 1- 1½ cups of milk ( most people use water, i think the milk make is milder)
Add 1 Tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
I like to use a cast iron skillet, traditionally they are cooked between iron disks over an open fire in the hills above Pistoia.
They are really good served with fresh ricotta and a drizzle of honey.
Chestnut Flour Fake Brownies
This makes up for the time I ordered Castagnaccio, thinking it was something like a brownie.
I used this recipe for an eggless cake called Crazy Cake, which i like to use for my clients Gluten free requests and it is also vegan!
This is the base recipe, with the cocoa powder again, which helps to cover up a little of the odd flavor that chestnut flour has on its own. I then topped it with the chopped walnuts, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. I cut the sugar in half, but it was a little too crumbly the first day, but moister the second day.
Truly good!
Not sure where I would source chestnut flour, maybe at a health food store. Recently when away for a few days there were several, roadside sellers offering Chestnuts for sale, they are not a staple in our home, had they been walnuts, a different matter. Thankyou for the recipes
Love your newsletter!!!!! Barbara