Today, the November Food Blog Challenge by Foodblogs Schweiz starts. This month, the food basket contains corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, chestnut, pear and quince. I’ve created dishes featuring almost all of these ingredients lately – corn, cauliflower, mushrooms, more mushrooms and quince. Pears and chestnuts haven’t appeared, though. Time to change that. First up: a traditional Ticino chestnut cake with a twist.
Whip 2 eggs with 150 g brown sugar until fluffy. Gently fold in 100 g butter and a mixture of 300 g ground chestnuts, 50 g ground hazelnuts, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp crushed cardamom and 1 tsp cloves. Transfer to a greased baking mold and bake for 40-45 minutes at 180°C. Place 200 g dark chocolate on the hot cake. Spread once melted. Decorate with chocolate nibs and crushed chestnuts.
Simmer chopped pears with vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom as well as some water until the flavors are well married.
Serve the cake on a sour cream smear next to the pears. Decorate with chrysanthemum blossom.
Mums - the food blog 