This Chestnut Cheesecake with snowflakes is a burst of flavors: the base of cookies and chocolate, the panna cotta cake, chestnuts, cream cheese, the topping with a light amaretto flavor. You will find it irresistible. You can decorate it as you wish, I used meringue snowflakes, the recipe can be found in the notes.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 20 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 8/10 servings
- Cooking methods: No-bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz Digestive cookies (McVitie's, more information in the notes)
- 2.1 oz dark chocolate
- 5 oz butter
- 11.3 oz boiled chestnuts
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 packet vanillin (0.4 g)
- 1 2/3 cups whipping cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 17.6 oz chestnut cream (approx., prepared with the recipe above. Set aside a tablespoon for the topping)
- 6 sheets gelatin (2 g each)
- 2.1 oz fresh cream cheese
- 1 tbsp amaretto (liqueur)
- 2.4 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 sheet gelatin (equivalent to 1 g)
- 1 oz chestnut cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
Preparation
Put the broken cookies in a food processor and blend until they are reduced to a fine powder.
Melt both the butter and chocolate in the microwave (a few seconds will suffice) and pour them into the bowl with the crumbled cookies. Mix well with a spoon until you get a well-blended mixture.
Wet a sheet of parchment paper with water, squeeze it well, and line a 10-inch pan. Now cover it with the cookie and chocolate mixture. Try to level it well with a spoon and cover the pan up to the edge. Place it in the fridge to solidify for at least three hours.
In a pot, put the already boiled chestnuts, sugar, vanillin, and milk, and cook over low heat for at least 15 minutes.
Mash the chestnuts with a fork to break them up.
You should obtain a fairly dry but soft mixture.
In a saucepan, place the whipping cream, and as soon as it comes to a boil, add the sugar and stir for another minute.
Now add the chestnut cream (set aside one tablespoon for the topping), cream cheese, and gelatin (which you have previously soaked in cold water and squeezed). Let cool.
Now pour the mixture into the cake pan over the cookie base. Let solidify in the fridge for at least three or four hours.
In a small cup, put the water, liqueur, and sugar. Heat for one or two minutes in the microwave.
Then add the gelatin (which you have previously soaked in cold water and squeezed) and the chestnut cream. Mix well to combine the ingredients.
Pour everything over the cheesecake, place in the fridge also for a night to solidify.
I wanted to decorate the cake with meringue snowflakes (recipe in the notes) and small colored meringues (which I bought). The snowflakes are really delicate, difficult to handle. Please decorate the cake just before serving it, otherwise, the meringue will tend to melt.
If you prefer, you can decorate with whipped cream snowflakes.
Tips/Advice
To make the snowflake decorations, you need a fairly solid meringue. You should use the same amount of egg whites, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar (for example, 1 oz of egg whites, 1 oz of powdered sugar, 1 oz of granulated sugar). Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and gradually add the two sugars until you get a very solid meringue. Place it in a piping bag with a small, smooth nozzle and form your decorations.
I recommend drawing the shapes on parchment paper with a pencil, turning it over, and tracing the lines with the meringue. Bake at 175/195°F for two hours; they should not darken, if they do, lower the oven temperature. Try to keep the lines not too thin to prevent them from breaking when you detach them from the parchment paper once cooked. Despite everything, they are so delicate that it will be difficult to remove them completely intact!
Alternatively, you can decorate your cake with whipped cream and marron glacé; it will surely make a great impression.
Place the meringues on the cake just before eating it, or they will tend to melt.
If you liked the Chestnut Cheesecake with snowflakes, try the other cheesecake recipes:
Products used: more information
To prepare this Cheesecake, I used McVitie’s Digestive cookies. For more information and if you wish to purchase, click the following link, it will take you directly to the related Amazon page:
I have tried versions from other brands, but I assure you they can’t come close to the taste of the originals; these are unmistakable. This content contains an affiliate link.
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