Chestnut Almond Espresso Cake With Mocha Whipped Cream

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1/2 cup almonds, skinless
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 lb resh chestnuts or 1 cup unsweetened chestnut puree
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup espresso
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso coffee, dissolved in
• 1/4 cup boiling water

Recipe

• 1 for the cake:place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a knife blade and pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
• 2 set aside in a small dish.
• 3 preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• 4 butter and flour 2 9" round cake pans.
• 5 if you are using fresh chestnuts, place them in a saucepan with water to cover.
• 6 simmer the chestnuts until they are tender, about 40 minutes.
• 7 be sure to keep the water level over the chestnuts as they cook.
• 8 drain the chestnuts, reserving 1 cup of the liquid, and set aside 6 whole nuts.
• 9 when they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin with a paring knife.
• 10 puree the chestnuts in the bowl of a food processor and remove the puree to a small bowl.
• 11 if you need more liquid, add some of the reserved cooking liquid.
• 12 the puree should be as stiff as peanut butter.
• 13 beat the egg yolks with the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium spped for 5 minutes or until the mixture forms ribbons when you raise the beater from the batter.
• 14 on low speed, blend in the chestnut puree, almonds, vanilla and espresso.
• 15 with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites in a bowl of your electric mixer with the pinch of salt until they form soft peaks.
• 16 do not overbeat.
• 17 add 1/4 of the whites to the egg yolk batter and blend well; carefully fold in the remaining egg whites until you have a fluffy batter.
• 18 fill the cake pans evenly with the batter.
• 19 gently rap the pans on the counter to settle the batter.
• 20 bake the cake layers on the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• 21 allow the cakes to cool 10 minuts in their pans, then invert them onto wire cooling racks.
• 22 place 1 cake layer on a large round cake platter.
• 23 frost the sides and top of the bottom layer with mocha whipped cream.
• 24 place the top layer over the cream and frost the rest of the cake.
• 25 cut the reserved whole chestnuts in half and arrange them over the cake.
• 26 chill the cake at least 1 hoiur.
• 27 remove it from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.
• 28 for the mocha whipped cream:combine the cream, chocolate and espresso in a heavy saucepan.
• 29 cook, stirring, over moderate heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture thickened.
• 30 transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and refrigerate until the mocha cream has chilled, about 30 minutes.
• 31 whip the cream until stiff.