Castagnaccio
A rustic Tuscan chestnut flour cake with a tender, slightly nutty crumb studded with pine nuts and rosemary. Naturally vegan and deeply flavored, it's served warm or at room temperature.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Servings
- 8
- Calories
- 312
- Protein
- 5g
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups chestnut flour
- 1.25 cups water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup pine nuts
- ½ cup raisins or dried cranberries
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary sprigs
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- 1
Set the oven to 350°F and wait for the indicator light or beep to signal it has finished heating, about 10 minutes.
- 2
Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a 10-inch round cake pan or cast iron skillet, tilting it to coat the bottom and sides evenly.
- 3
Strip the rosemary leaves from the sprigs by pinching the top and pulling downward; discard the woody stems and roughly chop the leaves into pencil-tip pieces.
- 4
Pour 1.25 cups water into a large mixing bowl, then add 1.5 cups chestnut flour and 0.75 teaspoon sea salt.
- 5
Whisk vigorously for about 1 minute until the batter is smooth and pourable with no lumps of flour visible — it should look like thin pancake batter.
- 6
Pour the batter into the oiled pan, spreading it gently with the back of a spoon until it reaches all edges and sits in an even layer.
- 7
Scatter the 0.5 cup pine nuts evenly across the batter surface, then sprinkle the 0.5 cup raisins between them.
- 8
Distribute the chopped rosemary leaves across the top, then drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a thin, zigzag pattern over everything.
- 9
Slide the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the surface looks set and lightly browned like tan leather, with edges just beginning to pull slightly from the pan sides.
- 10
Remove the pan from the oven using an oven mitt and set it on a heat-safe counter or trivet to cool for 5 minutes.
- 11
Run a thin knife or offset spatula around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then turn it out onto a cutting board or serving plate.
- 12
Cut the warm castagnaccio into 8 wedges or squares and serve warm or at room temperature.
Tools you’ll need
- oven
- 10-inch round cake pan or cast iron skillet
- large mixing bowl
- whisk
- spoon
- oven mitt
- heat-safe surface
- thin knife or offset spatula
- cutting board
Cook smarter
Get matched recipes for what’s in your fridge
CookSnap is a free iOS app that finds real recipes from the ingredients you already have. No more grocery-list aspirations.
