After last week’s recipe for a savory main course with surprising sweet notes, this week we have a dessert with savory notes: castagnaccio, a chestnut ‘cake’ with its origins in 16th century Tuscany.
Once called il pane dei poveri, or ‘the bread of the poor’, the batter for castagnaccio is basically just chestnut flour and water, along with a handful of dried fruits and nuts thrown in. No sugar, no eggs. This simple batter is baked in a moderate oven topped with—surprise!—rosemary leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. This is one dolce that relies purely on the inherent sweetness in the chestnut flour and dried fruit, as well as an optional drizzle of sweet vinsanto, the classic Tuscan dessert wine.
The result is astonishingly good. Intensely nutty and only slightly sweet, castagnacio has a wonderful mouth feel, a bit crisp on top but, if properly baked, moist and chewy on the inside. It’s not really much like a cake, to be honest, though that’s the way it’s usually translated into English.
The texture reminds me of Liguria’s farinata genovese, but the flavor profile is more remiscent of another classic Tuscan dessert schiacciata all’uva, a kind of grape foccacia which also blends a sweet note from the grapes with savory ones from olive oil and rosemary.
Nothing exemplifies Tuscan simplicity better than this lovely dessert. No wonder it’s become popular all over Italy, giving birth to all manner of regional and local iterations. For some castagnaccio is an acquired taste, but if like me you enjoy desserts that aren’t too sweet, this one’s for you.
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
- 250g (1/2 lb) chestnut flour
- 400ml (13 fl oz) water
- chopped walnuts, q.b.
- pinoli nuts, q.b.
- raisins, soaked in lukewarm water (or vinsanto) until soft, q.b.
- a sprig of fresh rosemary
- olive oil
- salt
- vinsanto (optional)
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, place the flour and a small pinch of salt.
Add water bit by bit, along with a drizzle of vinsanto if using, stirring until you have a smooth batter. Fold in a handful each of the walnuts, pinolis and raisins.
Pour the batter into a pie or cake pan or baking dish about 26cm (10-11 in) in diameter.
Top with another handful of walnuts and pinolis, along with some fresh rosemary leaves. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in a moderate (180C/350F) oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the batter has cooked through and little fissures have formed on top.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Notes on castagnaccio
The recipe itself is almost a non-recipe. There’s scarcely a way to go wrong, at least in terms of method. Avoid lumps in your batter, of course. And take care not to overbake your castagnaccio, lest you lose that moist, chewy center. Just as soon as the batter solidifies and little fissures form on the top, it’s done.
The only real difficulty is finding the ingredients. Where I live it’s more or less impossible to buy chestnut flour in stores. But you can order it online. For our North American readers, I’d recommend Alma Gourmet.
The vinsanto can also be a bit tricky to source. If you can’t find it where you live, just leave it out or use another sweet dessert wine, perhaps a sauterne or Tokaj. Not Port, however. Though you’ll see it recommended as a substitute for vinsanto, it tastes nothing like it and it will discolor your cake.
I’ve avoided giving exact measurements for the raisins and nuts. Recipes are all over the map here and it really comes down to your own personal taste. As you can see, I like to go heavy on these flavorings. If you’re unsure, try about 50g (2 oz) of each for your first castagnaccio.. Then adjust to your taste the next time you make it.
Serving your castagnaccio
I think castagnaccio is gorgeous just on its own, ideally with a glass of vinsanto.
But you can serve it with whipped cream, ricotta or mascarpone for a lovely creamy accompaniment. if you like. Though it’s not very DOC, I’d imagine it would get along famously with a scoop of vanilla gelato. You can also drizzle it with some honey if you want a sweeter dessert.
Variations
Speaking of which, while castagnaccio is famously not terribly sweet, there are recipes where you add some sugar or honey to the batter. But I wouldn’t over do it. Maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons at most.
Though it has its origins in Tuscany, as it spread to other regions of Italy castagnaccio has developed numerous regional iterations. Here are a few of the better known ones1:
- In neighboring Liguria, they sometimes add fennel seeds to the batter.
- In Emilia-Romagna, they omit the rosemary and use raisins and pinoli to the batter.
- In Piemonte, they make a rather thicker and sweeter castagnaccio. They use milk rather than water and addi diced apple, amaretti and honey to the batter.
- And down in Puglia, they make a leavened castagnaccio more like an actual chestnut cake, with a batter enriched with eggs and flavored with cocoa and sugar.
Other common variations involve the dried fruits and nuts you add to the chestnut flour batter. A bit of orange or lemon zest, for example, or a drizzle of orange juice, add citrus notes. Candied fruits are another option or dried fruit like figs. You could add a little spice like cinnamon or nutmeg. You could use other kinds of nuts like almonds or hazelnuts. Or chocolate chips. Or another liqueur like anisette. Adding ricotta to the batter produces a puffier castagnaccio.
You can make your castagnaccio softer by adding a bit more liquid, whether water or milk, to the batter.
Thickness can also vary. As you can see in the photos, this recipe will give you a quite thin castagnaccio. In Livorno, on the other hand, they make a particularly thick variety they call toppone. Again, you can let your taste–and your bakeware—be your guide.
Finally, Giulia Scarapeggia of Juls’ Kitchen has a lovely recipe for a Christmas castagnaccio. where a sweet ricotta filling studded with candied orange and chocolate chips is sandwiched between two round slices of castagnaccio.
Really once you master the basic recipe, the sky’s the limit in terms of personalizing your castagnaccio.
Making castagnaccio ahead
I find that castagnaccio is at its best freshly made and just slightly warm. You can just prepare the batter ahead and have it at the ready in its pan, then pop it in the oven maybe a half hour before you want to serve it.
That said, you can also make castagnaccio ahead, of course. It will keep for several days. Just make sure you cover it so it doesn’t dry out. A short spell in a low oven before serving will really wake up its flavor.
Castagnaccio
Ingredients
- 250 g chestnut flour
- 400 ml water
- chopped walnuts q.b.
- pinoli nuts q.b.
- raisins soaked in lukewarm water (or vinsanto) until soft, q.b.
- a sprig of fresh rosemary
- olive oil
- salt
- vinsanto optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, place the flour and a small pinch of salt.
- Add water bit by bit, along with a drizzle of vinsanto if using, stirring until you have a smooth batter. Fold in a handful each of the walnuts, pinolis and raisins.
- Pour the batter into a pie or cake pan or baking dish about 26cm (10-11 in) in diameter.
- Top with another handful of walnuts and pinolis, along with some fresh rosemary leaves. Drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake in a moderate (180C/350F) oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the batter has cooked through and little fissures have formed on top.
- Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
- There are also regional forms of castagnaccio such as the one from Campania made with actual chestnuts rather than chestnut flour. But those merit their own future blog post. ↩︎
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I don’t think I’ve ever experimented with chestnut flour…so of course, I’m intrigued now! And we do actually have a bottle of Vin santo. This sounds like a great holiday treat, Frank!
It’s not to everyone’s taste but I definitely think it is. Especially accompanied with a glass of vinsanto!
Thanks for posting Frank! Looks great. I don’t like sweet desserts but love chestnuts so this dessert is perfect. I ordered the chestnut flour and once it comes in I’ll make it for the upcoming holiday.
You’re welcome, Denio! I do hope you like it. Let us know how things go.
This is such a beautiful dive into Tuscan simplicity, Frank! I’m already imagining a slice with a drizzle of honey and a scoop of gelato for that perfect balance of earthy and sweet.
Thanks so much, Raymund. And you’re right about that perfect balance.
Such a fantastic combination of flavors… thank you for sharing! This really is the tastiest ending to any day!
You’re too kind, Heidi! Glad you liked it.
this sounds amazingly simple and tasty Frank! How clever.
sherry
Thanks, Sherry!
I love chestnuts, Frank, but I’m not familiar with this recipe. It looks rustic, simple, and absolutely fantastic – another one to try!
Definitely!
What a unique recipe! No eggs??? Interesting. It sounds really wonderful.
It really is worth a try. Not to everyone’s taste but certainly to mine!
My grandparents were from Liguria. My paternal grandparents from an area were chestnut flour was indeed “poor people’s food”. This what they ate in the winter. Same for a neighbor from Massa Carrara. For breakfast a “porridge” made with chestnut flour. I grew up eating castagnaccio but not as a dessert. It was served often for dinner eaten with a soft cheese -teleme is an excellent option, ricotta or for some salami or coppa. A friend from Tuscana made “necci” — chestnut flour crepes- that were incredibly delicious again served with ricotta or cheese. My grandmother made gnocchi di castagne served traditionally in LIguria with a walnut-cream sauce. Also fritters made with chestnut flour — a favorite for breakfast.
They all sound amazing, JN. Thanks for sharing!
If only people who make “dump cakes” would learn recipes like this instead! I’ve always hated that name for food, anyway. Sorry I’ve been MIA, Frank! Went to Europe for 6 weeks and still catching up! I have lots of your recipes to catch up on, too!
TIL what I ‘dump cake’ is. Not a name that exactly makes you want to run out and buy one… Anyway, I trust you had a great time on your trip. That was quite an odyssey!
This recipe is definitely my kind of recipe. I haven’t seen chestnut flour before so I’m going to keep an eye out for it.
Do check online Eva, it’s your best bet I’d wager. Here even the upscale stores don’t carry it.
Oh – this is my kind of cake also with bells on, if the flour can be found Down Under 🙂 ! So simple and elegant and NOT sweet! As a small child chestnuts were my favourite ‘things’ and favourite taste and I do not think anything has changed!
I bet you can find it, if only online. If you enjoy chestnuts, then I bet you’d love this.
I made castagnacio once many years ago, and it was pretty much a disaster. Your recipe looks much more interesting than the one I used, so I’ll give it a try again. Believe it or not, I have chestnut flour in the freezer. And everything else as well!
Hmmm. You have me curious about the recipe you used! That said, not every one likes castagnaccio so perhaps …? Not sure but if you have chestnut flour (and color me impressed that you do!) then why not give it another go. I’d be fascinated to know if you like this version better!
We were warned that we might not like it, but yours has a lot more in it than ours did. Ours was from a little cookbook from a cooking school in Viareggio. I think I will give it another go because, why not? I will definitely keep you posted.
The bread of the poor? With the ridiculously high price of chestnut flour, pine nuts and walnuts, the poor definitely cannot afford to this one…
It looks super delicious!
FYI, California farmers have been losing money on walnuts for the last 4-5 years. California grows high quality walnuts for both domestic and export. But with the high cost of inputs (labor, fertilizer, electricity, fuel) and the fall in walnut prices, farmers have been losing money and walnut orchards pulled.
Hehe! Well, times have changed. Back in the day chestnut flour was dirt cheap while wheat flour was relatively expensive. Chestnuts can be foraged while wheat, of course, has to be cultivated and harvested. Anyway, now as then it’s a tasty treat!
That’s my kind of cake! I think it might go well with Pedro Ximénez, which is traditionally served with Tarta de Santiago.
It should get along famously with a glass of sherry, MD. Enjoy!
Viva il castagnaccio, aka “hear hear for castagnaccio”.
I love it.
I now use much more liquid than what I used to (now: 100 g flour: 300 g liquid), because this makes for a more delicate pudding, for my taste. I have not made it yet this year (new season flour just arrived in the shops here, in the last month or so) but I will soon make it (and served with ricotta).
Tip for people who have never used this flour: chestnut goes rancid easily, hence it should be stored in the freezer; for the same reason, buy fresh flour only , ie flour that has been milled in the current year.
Thanks for the tips, Stefano! I didn’t know how perishable chestnut flour was. Sadly here in this land of industrial agriculture there’s no such thing as “new season flour”. But we make do…