The CHESTNUT AND CHOCOLATE TART is a delightful autumn cake, creamy and intensely flavored, truly special for lovers of these wonderful forest fruits. It can be served as a dessert, perhaps with a little whipped cream, or as an afternoon treat with tea to brighten a cold, rainy afternoon.
Making this tart is overall simple, apart from the effort of peeling the chestnuts, and it doesn’t take too much time. The pastry is very simple and quick, and the filling, rich in aroma, only requires a little patience to press the ingredients carefully through a ricer. The cake’s goodness lies in the perfect balance of ingredients: chestnuts and ricotta give creaminess, while cocoa and chocolate chips add a gust of flavor without overpowering. If there are no children, be sure to add the rum — it pairs wonderfully with both chestnuts and chocolate.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6-8 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 7 tbsp butter (cold)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1.1 lbs chestnuts
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- Half tsp anise seeds
- 1 pinch coarse salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1 tbsp rum
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
For the chestnut and chocolate tart you will need
- 2 Pots
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Tart pan
- 1 Potato ricer
- 1 Work surface
- 1 Rolling pin
Preparation — chestnut and chocolate tart
To prepare the CHESTNUT AND CHOCOLATE TART, start by cooking the chestnuts.
In a pot put the water with a pinch of coarse salt, the bay leaves and the anise seeds. Add the chestnuts scored with a knife and boil over medium heat for about 40 minutes.
Drain them and, while still warm, remove the shell and the inner skin.
Chop them with a knife or pulse in a food processor, then put them in another pot with the milk, the sugar and the cocoa.
Bring everything to a boil, stirring constantly, for 15–20 minutes or until the mixture is creamy and fairly dry.
Pass the mixture through a potato ricer and let it cool.
Then add the ricotta, the rum and the chocolate chips and mix everything together.
Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator.Put the flour, the sugar, the cold butter in pieces and a pinch of salt in a bowl or on a work surface. Begin to incorporate the ingredients until you obtain a sandy texture.
Add the eggs, incorporate them quickly and form a dough ball.
Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.Roll out 3/4 of the pastry to a thickness of 1/8 inch and line the base and sides of an 8-inch tart pan.
Fill with the prepared chestnut mixture, level the surface and cover with the remaining pastry rolled slightly thinner.
Seal the edges well and bake in a preheated static oven at 356 °F for 40–45 minutes.Remove the CHESTNUT AND CHOCOLATE TART from the oven, let it cool and, when ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar.
