This decadent dessert is labor-intensive, full of wickedness, and well worth the effort. Specialty food shops and gourmet shops sell chestnuts and marrons glace.
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 to 9 – inch cake |
Ingredients
- ¾ pound whole chestnuts, drained
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons dark rum
- 10 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 6 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup white sugar
- 6 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 8 marrons glaces (candied chestnuts)
- 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- ¾ cup chopped marrons glace (candied chestnuts)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Then grease the parchment paper.
- Separate the eggs.
- In a food processor puree the chestnuts with the butter and the rum, scraping down the sides, until the mixture is smooth. Add the melted bittersweet chocolate and blend the mixture until it is combined well. With the motor running, add the yolks, 1 at a time, and transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the whites with the salt until they hold soft peaks, add the sugar, a little at a time, beating, and beat the meringue until it holds stiff peaks.
- Whisk about one fourth of the meringue into the chocolate mixture to lighten it and fold in the remaining meringue gently but thoroughly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake in the middle of a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it and the top is cracked. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, remove the side of the pan, and invert the cake onto another rack. Remove the bottom of the pan, invert the torte onto a rack, and let it cool completely. (The cake will fall as it cools.)
- To Make Glaze: Put 6 ounces of the finely chopped chocolate in a small bowl, in a saucepan bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil, and pour it over the chocolate. Stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth and stir in 1 tablespoon of the rum. Dip each candied chestnut halfway into the glaze to coat it partially, transfer the chestnuts to a foil-covered tray, and let them set.
- Invert the cake onto a rack set on wax paper, pour the glaze over it, smoothing the glaze with a spatula and letting the excess drip down the side, and let the cake stand for 2 hours, or until the glaze is set. Transfer the cake carefully to a serving plate and garnish it with the coated chestnuts.
- Make the whipped cream just before serving the cake: In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters beat the 1 cup heavy cream until it holds soft peaks, beat in the 2 tablespoons sugar and the1 tablespoon rum, and beat the mixture until it holds stiff peaks. Fold in the chopped candied chestnuts. Serve the cake with the whipped cream.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 530 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 46 g |
| Cholesterol | 156 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 20 g |
| Sodium | 98 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great recipe prepared for guests after returning from Budapest, a city I fell in love with so it was a no brainer selection when perusing chocolate cake recipes.
I leave the sugar out and sprinkle it with sugar substitute, as if it were confectioner sugar, when cooled.
i made this cake for valentines day and sent it to my husband’s restaurant (he was working that day) for him and his staff to enjoy. he absolutely loved it and got lots of compliments from his co-workers. i figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to send the whipped topping seperately since they might not know what to do with it, so i topped the cake with it in decorative spirals then placed the candied chestnuts around the edges. i also bought pre-cooked, pre-peeled chestnuts and chopped them up to cover the sides of the cake. this worked well because the glaze was thick and sticky enough to hold it. i also used the same chopped chestnuts for the whipped topping instead of using the candied chestnuts because they were too expensive. try adding a few spoonfuls of chestnut spread to the whipped topping.. AMAZING results!
The final product really was wonderful, a dense, dark chocolate flavor for true chocolate lovers. However, a word of caution. The author left out one important word in the ingredient list, and that would be JARRED. Or canned. I had only purchased fresh chestnuts previously and didn’t realize until the moment that I was about to begin preparations, at 4:00 the evening before Thanksgiving, that I was meant to have bought precooked chestnuts. Boiling and peeling the little buggers by hand easily added another hour and a half to my prep time. I was not a happy camper. Should have just run to the store to buy some, but was afraid on the night before t-giving, there wouldn’t be any left. Arrrgh. Also, good luck finding the marrons glace. I live in a big city and went to 3 stores that carry specialty items – no dice, so we did without. I’m sure it would have been fabulous with them. Give this a try but you may have to order the candied chestnuts online.
This is it! I use to get this cake for my birthday all the time when I was younger, but the bakery we bought them from closed. No matter now… this is so worth the effort. Warning to everyone, give yourself lots of time when whipping up this baby.
amazing fudgy cake…a hit with hungarian inlaws!! a bit timely but worth every minute…a tip though, cut out a piece of wax paper the same size or a little smaller than the finished cake to place on the cooling rack because it will be difficult to remove after the glaze has dried. a new family favorite