Layers of crunchy meringue interspersed with rum spiked chestnut cream and topped with chocolate shavings. This chestnut cream meringue cake is a decadent dessert fit for any dinner party or even as an alternative or addition to the Christmas pudding. You can even serve it frozen as an ice-cream gateau.
Well I haven’t managed to enter the Forever Nigella Event, the brain child of Sarah from Maison Cupcake, for a couple of months, so I thought it was about time I did. The theme this month chosen by Arthi at Soul Curry is Iced Dreams.
I don’t have an ice-cream maker. Making it by hand conjures up not so fond memories of lots of beating, in and out of the freezer and then ending up with ice crystals anyway. So the idea of ice-cream didn’t really appeal.
However, looking through my trusted copy of How to Be a Domestic Goddess, I came across a recipe for chestnut ice-cream meringue cake and no churning is needed. Lush, rich and sumptuous, this seems a very apt dessert for a Nigella challenge.
As it happened, when I went to put the finished cake in the freezer, I realised I had no room anyway. That was fine, it went into the fridge instead and became a chilled cake, which, luckily for me is permitted.
Chestnut Cream Meringue Cake
This delightful layered chestnut cream meringue cake is one very decadent dessert. It tastes heady and ambrosial with the tropical rum flavour very much to the fore. It’s rich and creamy which makes for a good contrast to the crunchy meringue layers. CT summed it up with one word – delicious!
It’s a particularly good dessert for dinner parties. This is mostly because it looks and tastes amazing, but also because you need to make it a few hours in advance. Always a bonus when it comes to parties.
The cake is quite rich, so you only need a small slice. CT and I found that, cut into eight slices, one was enough. However cut the cake into six slices if you think eight is too much of a stretch. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
As usual, I ended up doing something a little different to the actual recipe. First off, I only made half the amount. I’m glad I did, as a little goes a long way. If you are catering for a crowd, however, double the quantities and make three 21 cm circles of meringue, rather than my 15 cm ones.
I didn’t want to make it overly sweet either, so I used less sugar than stated, both in the meringue and the chestnut cream. Cocoa had to go in, of course, although only a little bit. I omitted the cornflour and used my homemade crème fraîche rather than cream. I also used cardamom sugar so omitted the original vanilla extract. I’ve added that back in on the recipe card below though.
If you fancy freezing the chestnut cream meringue cake as was originally intended, freeze it for four hours or until set and serve as an ice cream gateau. If not serving the frozen version straight away, cover with clingfilm once frozen and place it back in the freezer for up to a month.
There was one downside to not freezing the cake. After the first slice, we left the cake for the next day and the crunch had disappeared. Turns out that over time meringues absorb the moistness from the cream. So if you’re going for a chilled rather than frozen cake, make sure you make it on the day you’re going to serve it.
Other Chestnut Recipes You Might Like
- Chestnut biscuits with a chocolate ganache filling
- Chilli chocolate chestnut cake
- Chocolate chestnut cupcakes
- Italian chestnut cake
- Mushroom & chestnut sausage rolls
- Tempeh & chestnut stuffing balls
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this chestnut cream meringue cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?
If you’d like more meringe recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Chestnut Cream Meringue Cake. PIN IT.
Chestnut Cream Meringue Cake
Ingredients
Meringues
- 3 egg whites
- 120 g golden caster sugar (I used homemade cardamom sugar and omitted the vanilla extract)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Chestnut Cream
- ½ tin sweetened chestnut puree (about 220g)
- 2 tbsp rum
- 40 g icing sugar
- 300 ml crème fraîche (I used homemade)
- 10 g chocolate shavings (I used 37% milk chocolate)
Instructions
Meringues
- Whisk the egg whites until the soft peak stage.3 egg whites
- Gradually whisk in the sugar until you get stiff peaks. If you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue should stay exactly where it is. If not, keep whisking.120 g golden caster sugar
- Whisk in the cocoa.1 tbsp cocoa powder
- Carefully stir in the vinegar and vanilla extract.1 tsp apple cider vinegar, ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment and draw 3 saucer sized circles (about 15 cm) on the parchment. The meringues spread to about 17 cm when cooked, so leave a suitable sized gap between them.
- Divide the mixture between the three circles and spread with a palette knife or the back of a spoon to fill them and make an even layer.
- Bake at 150℃ (300℉, Gas 2) for 30 minutes then turn the oven down to 100℃ (212℉, Gas ¼) for a further 35 minutes.
- Turn the oven off but leave the meringues in until the oven is cold.
Chestnut Cream
- Using a wooden spoon, beat the chestnut puree with the rum and icing sugar until smooth.½ tin sweetened chestnut puree, 2 tbsp rum, 40 g icing sugar
- Stir in the crème fraîche until combined.300 ml crème fraîche
- Place a meringue circle on a plate and spread with ⅓ of the chestnut cream.
- Top this with another meringue circle and spread with another ⅓ of the cream.
- Top with the final meringue and spread the last ⅓ of cream over the top.
- Shave about the chocolate over the top to decorate.10 g chocolate shavings
- Place in the fridge to set and chill. This will take about 4 hours.
ali says
nice
Choclette says
Thank you.
Tracy K Nixon says
Lovely! I adore meringue as it is so much lighter and less filling so I feel less guilty after eating it!
Maya Russell says
What a shame it has to be eaten straight away before going soft. Nice cake!
Herbert Appleby says
Just almost ate my monitor when first caught sight of this fabulous cake. A mighty fine looking piece of baking here.
Choclette says
Aww shucks, thank you Herbert. I really wouldn’t advise the monitor though, you might find it a tad disappointing.
Choclette says
Jude – that’s the place to get it from, it’s so expensive over here and hard to come by.
Baking Addict – chocolate and chestnuts are a match well made. Look forward to seeing what you do with it.
Baking Addict says
Wow this looks amazing! I still have a jar of chesnut puree awaiting inspiration. This might be it! Thanks!
A Trifle Rushed says
Wow! Looks fab, I’m adding chestnut puree to my list of things to take back from France! Jude x
Choclette says
Sarah – Thank you. I’m all out of chestnut puree now, so feeling rather envious of your stash.
Shaheen – glad I’ve made an impression 😉
Malli – thank you.
Lucie – good to hear from you and nice to hear you’ve managed a bit of a catch up.
Dom – glad you approve. I know you’re having a rather busy time of it at present. Hoping that oven will be with you faster than you know it.
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
jesus fucking christ that looks good!… i’ve missed a couple of your stunning posts recently, for which i apologise because they look AMAZING!!!!!!!!!… ahh, dreaming of an oven!
Lucie says
What a wonderful pud! Love it. Thanks for your comment – hope you are well. I’ve had a good catch up on your blog -you have been busy – you’ve whipped up some amazing things! Lucie x
Malli says
Heavenly and incredibly tempting!! Man that looks good!
Shaheen says
My fingers are stroking the computer screen and i have to tell you that does not happen that often 🙂
Sarah, Maison Cupcake says
That’s superb. I love all the layers. Got some chestnut purees I need to put to good use…
Choclette says
Phil – if eaten straight away, I agree this would be best served un-iced. But if it’s going to be kept or made in advance, the meringue goes soggy quite quickly so I think freezing it would keep the crunchiness.
CityHippy – thank you, meringue’s a hard one to beat.
Chele – thank you, it’s the time of year for these sorts of puds – any excuse 😉
Chele says
OMG! That looks fab. You have outdone yourself with this beauty ;0)
cityhippyfarmgirl says
I saw a hazelnut recipe similiar to this one recently in a magazine. It’s so very much all about the delicious meringue! YUM! Big wow factor Choclette 🙂
Phil in the Kitchen says
You’re right, this would make a great dessert, although maybe not after a huge main course. This sounds more inviting to me than the frozen version – but a slice of each would be nice for comparison purposes.
Choclette says
Manu – I agree, chestnuts are so good for so many things.
Choclette says
Helen – thank you. High praise indeed 😉
Jac – as you know, wicked is my middle name 😉
Janice – yes, I’ve had a sudden spate of cooking rich foods and really MUST stop soon.
Claire – thanks for visiting. Please don’t mention the dreaded D work, it’s something I try not to think about 🙁
C – thank you, it was.
Gloria – thank you.
Foodycat – you’re so right, it would be just the thing with the rum and chestnuts.
CC – surely you will be remedying this deficiency in your baking repertoire soon 😉
Oxslip – PE caught us unawares again and we left it too late to get a ticket. Have promised ourselves we will be better organised next year! I’ll try and catch you then 🙂 Hope you had a splendid time – at least the weather was good. It’s always rather strange though to have so many people on the train getting off at St Germans and rather a shock not to be able to get a seat.
manu says
Looks delicious!! I loce chestnuts!!!
oxslip says
This looks amazing! There were tons of foods involving chestnuts in Corsica, but none as fabulous looking as this.
You have been so busy, I’m impressed as ever. Work has been bonkers so I forgot to email to see ifyou’d be at Port Eliot and now we’re back, so I sort of hope you weren’t and I didn’t miss you. Either way, hope you had a good weekend
The Caked Crusader says
I adore chestnut in cakes, but have never baked with it myself. Your cake is stunning.
Foodycat says
That looks stunning! Alternative to Christmas pudding maybe?
Gloria says
look georgeous and delicious!! gloria
C says
That looks gorgeous – I bet the contrast between crunchy meringue and gooey creamy filling was fabulous!
Claire says
I love chocolate so will be visiting your site again. This cake looks fab but certainly not for the diet days.
Janice says
oh boy, that is a real treat. Rich and delicious looking.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
that looks bloody lovely! Really want a piece now!
Jacqueline says
That dose indeed look bloody lovely as Helen said. I would also like a piece. It is torture really!