Preparation stated: 10 minutes · Soak the raisins: about 10 minutes · Bake: about 35 minutes at 190 °C in a preheated oven · 24 cm round tin. Let it cool slightly before serving.

Ingredients for a 24 cm tin

• 500 g chestnut flour
• 600 ml water
• 100 g walnut kernels
• 60 g pine nuts
• 60 g raisins
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• Rosemary, as needed

Oil the tin as instructed. The source does not separate the oil used for greasing from the two tablespoons listed, so no additional measured quantity is invented here.

How to make castagnaccio

1. Rinse the raisins and soak them in cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain and squeeze them well.
2. Sift the chestnut flour into a bowl and add the salt. Gradually pour in the 600 ml of cold water, stirring with a hand whisk or spoon until no lumps remain.
3. Chop the walnut kernels. Stir two thirds of the walnuts, two thirds of the pine nuts and all the drained raisins into the batter.
4. Pour into an oiled 24 cm round tin. Scatter the remaining walnuts and pine nuts over the top, add the rosemary needles and drizzle with the oil.
5. Bake in the preheated oven at 190 °C for about 35 minutes. Let it cool slightly before cutting. Serve warm or cold.

The history of castagnaccio

Castagnaccio belongs to rural cooking traditions built around chestnut flour. In Lunigiana, the chestnut tree was known as the bread tree: its fruit helped sustain local communities. Chestnuts were dried in buildings called gradili and then milled, allowing the harvest to be used beyond autumn.

Visit Tuscany — Lunigiana

Names and preparations vary by region. In Casentino, castagnaccio is also known as baldino; Visit Tuscany describes it with chestnut flour, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, raisins and rosemary. These sources explain the tradition without assigning this particular version an undocumented inventor or date of origin.

Visit Tuscany — Casentino

Frequently asked questions

Should castagnaccio rise?

No. This recipe has no raising agent and the batter is not whipped. The result is dense, unlike a fluffy cake.

Do I need to add sugar?

Sugar is not included in this formula. That does not mean the cake contains no naturally occurring sugars.

Is it the same as chestnut flour sponge cake?

No. This recipe uses water and chestnut flour, without eggs or a raising agent. The soft chestnut flour cake in the Magazine also contains wheat flour, eggs, milk and baking powder.

Recipe source and image

Rewritten from the supplied material, with reference to La cucina di Vane’s recipe. The owner clarified the source’s flour, walnut and herb errors: 500 g flour, 100 g walnut kernels and rosemary. All other amounts, the oven temperature and baking time are unchanged.

Castagnaccio — La cucina di Vane

The image is an AI-generated illustration and does not document a practical test of the recipe.

The recipe uses seed oil and milk, with no butter. Allow 10 minutes to prepare the batter and about 40 minutes for baking, plus time for the cake to cool slightly. Serve it for breakfast with milky coffee or as an afternoon snack with a warm drink.

Easy · 6 servings · 20 cm tin

Preparation: 10 minutes · Baking: about 40 minutes · Total: about 50 minutes, plus cooling · Preheated oven: 170 °C

Ingredients

• 120 g Italian type 00 wheat flour
• 120 g chestnut flour
• 3 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 100 ml seed oil
• 100 ml milk
• 8 g baking powder
• Icing sugar, as needed to decorate

How to make chestnut flour cake

1. Prepare the oven and tin

Preheat the oven to 170 °C and line the base of a 20 cm round cake tin with baking parchment. Weigh and prepare all the ingredients.

2. Whisk the eggs and sugar

Crack the eggs into a large bowl, add the sugar and beat with an electric whisk until pale, thick and frothy.

3. Add the oil and milk

Pour the seed oil and milk into the bowl. Whisk briefly, just until they are incorporated.

4. Mix in the flours and baking powder

Add the type 00 wheat flour, chestnut flour and baking powder. Whisk until the batter is smooth, with no visible lumps.

5. Fill the tin and bake

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the top if needed. Bake at 170 °C for about 40 minutes. Check the centre with a skewer before taking the cake out of the oven.

6. Cool slightly and decorate

Let the cake cool slightly, remove it from the tin and dust with a little sifted icing sugar. Cut into slices and serve.

How to serve chestnut flour cake

Enjoy it for a simple breakfast with coffee, milk or tea, or as an afternoon snack without a filling. To serve it as dessert, add a spoonful of whipped cream to each slice just before bringing it to the table.

Optional chocolate chip variation

For a richer variation, add 100 g of chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips to the batter. This addition is optional and is not included in the ingredients for the plain cake shown in the steps.

Storage

Once the cake has cooled, wrap it in food-safe cling film and refrigerate it to help prevent it from drying out. The source recipe does not specify an exact number of days, so no guaranteed storage period is given here.

Frequently asked questions

Is this chestnut flour cake gluten-free?

Not this version: it contains 120 g of type 00 wheat flour as well as chestnut flour. For a gluten-free cake, use a dedicated recipe rather than replacing flours without checking the formula.

Is this cake made without butter?

Yes. The batter uses seed oil instead of butter. It still contains milk and eggs: no butter does not mean lactose-free or vegan.

What size tin do I need?

These quantities are for a 20 cm round cake tin and 6 servings. Line the base with baking parchment.

Recipe source and images

Adapted from the material supplied, with reference to Buon’Idea’s recipe on Fatto in casa da Benedetta. Ingredient quantities are unchanged; tin diameter and oven temperature were checked against the source.

Buon’Idea — Torta con farina di castagne, Fatto in casa da Benedetta

The images are AI-generated illustrations and do not document a practical test of the recipe.

Its texture is that of a crumble-topped tart, not a fluffy sponge cake. The pine nuts go into the pastry used for the topping, while the figs stay in the filling. The method keeps those layers distinct, without adding baking powder or changing the ingredient quantities.

Servings, tin and timing

• Serves 6–8.
• Rectangular 20 × 24 cm loose-bottomed tart tin.
• Difficulty: easy.
• Preparation: 30 minutes.
• Refrigerator resting time: at least 30 minutes.
• Baking: approximately 30–35 minutes at 160 °C, in the lower part of the oven.
• Allow for resting and cooling in addition to preparation and baking: the tart is not ready in just 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 500 g figs
• 250 g flour
• 120 g butter
• 100 g brown cane sugar
• 100 g pine nuts
• 100 g fig jam
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• Icing sugar for finishing, optional

How to make the fig and pine nut tart

1. Make the pastry

Put the flour, cinnamon, diced butter, brown cane sugar and salt in a food processor. Process until the mixture forms crumbs. Add the whole egg and process for a few more seconds.

2. Rest in the refrigerator

Wrap the pastry in food-safe plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. Line the tin and prepare the figs

Divide the pastry into two parts. Roll out one part in a rectangular 20 × 24 cm loose-bottomed tin. Clean and trim the figs, cut them into pieces and mix them with the fig jam.

4. Add the filling

Spoon the fig and jam mixture over the pastry base and spread it across the tin.

5. Add the pastry and pine nut topping

Mix the pine nuts into the remaining pastry. Grate this portion through the coarse holes of a grater, letting it fall directly over the filling.

6. Bake and cool

Bake in the lower part of the oven at 160 °C for approximately 30–35 minutes. Leave to cool and serve cold, dusted with a little icing sugar if desired.

Details worth noting

The base and topping come from the same pastry; only the topping portion is mixed with pine nuts. The method does not include baking the base separately.

The source specifies 160 °C but does not identify a conventional or fan oven setting. No undocumented setting or temperature conversion is added here. The minimum 30-minute refrigerator rest remains part of the method.

Recipe source

Ingredient quantities and method are based on Cucchiaio d’Argento’s Torta ai fichi e pinoli. Text adapted for Tutto Pasticceria Magazine without changing the recipe formula.

Cucchiaio d’Argento — Torta ai fichi e pinoli

AI-generated illustrative images, not photographs of a test bake.

There is no butter in the batter. However, the method below uses butter and flour to prepare the tin, so this is not a completely butter-free or dairy-free cake.

Servings, tin and timing

• Serves: 6.
• Round cake tin: 20–22 cm in diameter.
• Difficulty: very easy.
• Indicative cost: low; actual cost depends on the ingredients purchased.
• Preparation time stated in the original recipe: 15 minutes.
• Pumpkin baking time: 20 minutes at 200 °C.
• Cake baking time: approximately 45 minutes at 170 °C, in a preheated conventional oven, without the fan.
• Sum of the stated times: approximately 1 hour 20 minutes, excluding preheating and cooling. The 45 minutes refer only to baking the cake.
• Cooking method: oven. Cuisine: Italian.

Ingredients

For a 20–22 cm cake tin:

• 3 medium eggs;
• 300 g pumpkin, weighed after cleaning and before baking;
• 150 g granulated sugar;
• 50 ml seed oil;
• 50 ml milk;
• 270 g Italian tipo 00 flour;
• 16 g baking powder for cakes, equivalent to one sachet in the 16 g format;
• icing sugar as needed, for finishing.

You will also need butter and flour to grease and flour the tin, as already required by the method. These are for the tin, not additions to the batter quantities.

To make “one sachet” precise, we use the 16 g format documented by Paneangeli. The original cake recipe does not specify a brand. This is baking powder, not baker’s yeast; if using a different formulation, check the manufacturer’s dosing instructions.

How to make the pumpkin cake

1. Bake and blend the pumpkin

Remove the skin and weigh out 300 g of cleaned pumpkin flesh. Cut it into small cubes and spread them over a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake at 200 °C for 20 minutes. Blend the cooked pumpkin and set the purée aside.

Baking helps dry out the pumpkin before it is added to the batter. Remember to include this separate step when planning your preparation time.

2. Make the batter

Use an electric whisk to beat the whole eggs with the sugar until fluffy. Pour in the oil and milk while continuing to mix.

Add the pumpkin purée, then gradually incorporate the sifted flour. Add the baking powder last and mix until the batter is smooth.

3. Bake the cake

Grease and flour the 20–22 cm cake tin, then pour in the batter. Bake in a preheated conventional oven, without the fan, at 170 °C for approximately 45 minutes.

Check the cake with a skewer before taking it out of the oven: the baking time is approximate, so the final doneness check is still needed.

4. Finish the cake

Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool. Dust with icing sugar only when the cake is cold, then cut into portions.

Variations suggested in the original recipe

The original recipe also suggests chopped chocolate, lemon or orange zest, and chopped almonds. These are optional ideas without specified quantities, separate from the plain version.

For the cocoa variation, replace 20 g of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder: use 250 g flour and 20 g cocoa. Keep this variation separate from the plain cake described above.

Orange juice is mentioned in the original introduction, but without a quantity or substitution ratio, so it is not included in the practical instructions.

A little history: pumpkin desserts and pumpkin pie

Plants in the genus Cucurbita, which includes the edible pumpkins discussed here, have an American native range documented by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

There is also historical evidence of pumpkin being used in desserts. Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery, published in 1796, includes a pumpkin preparation baked in a pastry crust. The Library of Congress links it to the classic American pumpkin pie.

That dessert is different from this cake: pumpkin pie has a filling in a pastry shell, while here the purée is mixed into a raised cake batter. This is background on pumpkin desserts, not a claim that this particular recipe dates from the eighteenth century.

Preparation questions

Should I weigh the 300 g of pumpkin before or after baking?

Weigh the pumpkin after cleaning it and before baking it. The quantity does not mean 300 g of cooked purée.

Does raw pumpkin go into the batter?

No. In this recipe, the pumpkin is first baked for 20 minutes at 200 °C, then blended and added to the batter.

Is this a butter-free cake?

The batter contains seed oil instead of butter. The tin is buttered and floured, and the recipe also contains milk.

How long does it bake?

The cake takes approximately 45 minutes at 170 °C in a preheated conventional oven, without the fan. There is also a separate pumpkin baking stage: 20 minutes at 200 °C.

Storage

The original recipe states 2 days, with the cake covered in plastic wrap. It does not specify a storage temperature. We report this as the source’s guidance, not as a shelf life validated for every room condition or for cakes with added fillings.

Recipe source

Reference quantities and method: Torta di zucca morbidissima by Vale cucina e fantasia. Editorial adaptation for Tutto Pasticceria Magazine, with clarification of the baking powder sachet size and overall preparation time.

Accompanying image: AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of a test bake.

Ingredients:
160 gr flour
2 eggs
120 gr sugar
125 gr.
40 ml oil seeds
½ sweet powder yeast bag
breadcrumbs aroma

Proceedings:
The procedure of this recipe is really easy and fast, you will have your “mini panettoni” ready in a few minutes and you will make a figurone!

First, put the eggs in sugar, they will have to become clear and foamy. Add the oil, yogurt and the aroma to the bread-tree taste and mix well, then add the flour and yeast sifted and amalgamated.

Insert the dough into the formines and baked in 170° for about 20 – No.

Here you can add your Christmas cakes. If you want, in the dough, you can add orange candied and the raisin.

Conservation:
Your muffins are stored for a couple of days under a glass bell.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
200 gr. icing sugar
500 gr. type 00 flour
250 gr butter
Cinnamon aroma

Proceedings:
First, add the flour and butter to pieces and mix well, then add it icing sugar, the two eggs and the aroma with cinnamon ceylonMix well until you get a homogeneous dough.

Form a panetto, cover it with the film and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Put the dough back, spread it and make the cookies with the moulds. Put them on the baking paper, just cook them to the oven. 180° per 15-20 – No.

Your greedy snack is ready to be enjoyed with you!

Conservation:
Cookies can be stored in a tin box lined with baking paper.

How to use leftover pandoro

Today we will talk about Pandoro sweet of Veronese origin, sweet with a delicate and refined taste that is normally served without creams or candied, but only with a dust of icing sugar.

Although the Pandoro and delicious to always consume sweet in the long can stew, so why not reinvent recipes using it so as to discover new tastes and dispose your pandori more easily.

Pandoro filled with mascarpone cream

This recipe is also a great idea to recycle a whole pandoro and also a great idea to serve the pandoro in a different dress during a dinner or during a tombola.

Ingredients

• 1 whole pandoro or the advanced one if you want to make recycling;
• 400 gr of mascarpone;
• 125 gr of icing sugar;
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla aroma;
• 1 coffee cup;
• 200 ml of fresh whipped cream;
• icing sugar :

How to assemble the filled pandoro

• Let’s start by preparing cream mascarpone, so we put in a bowl the mascarpone and it icing sugar and put them together through the help of an electric slacker.
• Now we add coffee and continue to work to get a smooth cream.
• In another container, put the cream on and add the mixture of mascarpone and stir gently until the ingredients are well mixed.

At this point the mascarpone cream is ready, we pass to Pandoro preparation.

• Cut the horizontal slices of about 3 cm forming so of the “stars” ranging from the largest to the smallest.
• Now we take the bigger piece and we make it with the mascarpone cream.
• This is done to take the next star and place it on top by putting the staggered tips between them thus creating a three-dimensional pattern.
• Continue until the layers of pandoro end, at this point give a nice dusted of icing sugar and your stuffed Pandoro is ready.

Alternative: pandoro tiramisù dessert cups

If you have no full pandoro or want to create monodose portions, a good idea and to prepare for some Tiramisu glasses.

You can prepare mascarpone cream as above, or any other kind of mascarpone cream.

At this point, cut the Pandoro into cubes and put a layer in the glass where you want to serve it and pour a few teaspoons of coffee to wet it a little bit.

Now we pour a little mascarpone cream to create a layer and continue with pandoro cubes and cream until filling the glass.

We finish with the last layer of mascarpone cream and before serving we sprinkle with a little cocoa.

But then why not use them to create unique recipes that will allow you to dispose of your panettoni but also to make a beautiful figure with your guests?

Panettone ankle boot with leftovers ready in 5 minutes

This is what I’m saying. Christmas Tronchetto it will allow you to be able to recycle a panettone even if already cut and to prepare a very special dessert.

Ingredients

300 gr of Panettone Advanced

300 gr of ricotta cheese or cheese spreadable to your choice

60 gr of dark chocolate chips

120 gr dark chocolate

1-2 nuts of butter

3 spoons of sugar

icing sugar to decorate

Proceedings

1. Let’s start by cutting the sliced panettone and spread it on a sheet of transparent film until you create a rectangle.
2. Now put on a sheet of paper baked and with a small rolling pin crush the slices of panettone and then cut out the edges to always give a rectangular shape.

Now we’re going to the preparation of cream with fast ricotta.

1. Let’s take a bowl and put the ricotta and the 3 spoons of icing sugar and we start working it well so that it becomes smooth and homogeneous.
2. Add the chocolate drops and mix it all together.
3. Now let’s start composing the dessert.
4. We spread ricotta cream on the panettone and with the help of the film we begin to roll on itself to create a cylinder.
5. Then lock it with the transparent film and put it in the fridge for an hour.
6. Once an hour, remove the film from the cylinder and cut off obliquely so as to divide it into and parts, take the smallest part and let it adhere to one side of the other side so that you have the classic shape of a log.

Now we only have the last passage, we’re gonna strike bain-marie the chocolate and we add a nut of butter.

When it is well dissolved, pour it on the trunk to cover the entire surface, then put it in the fridge to cool the chocolate.

Before serving it with a fork created veins on the chocolate to give the appearance of a trunk and finally a dusted of icing sugar.

You can also do it with chocolate cream or other creams spreadable and with pandoro or other cake.

Here are all the tips for decoration and coloring of eggs both chocolate, and the classic eggs sode.

Coloring of the soda eggs for Easter

For the coloring of the eggs, we do not recommend the use of tempering or markers.

If there is still egg sodo inside the shell that you will go to color, it could be harmful to color it, the harmful substances can pass from the shell inside altering the egg.

We recommend theuse of gel dyes, which are easy to use.

In practical tube, you can press directly into the shell, then brush with markers, or first mix them in a saucepan, to obtain infinite colors.

1. Step 1 : boil egg (we recommend to choose white eggs ) for 5-8 minutes in a pot, covering it with hot water
2. Step 2 : make the egg cool for a couple of hours.
3. Step 3 : Once cold, use the coloring gels to give a first pass, dry and give another hand, the color will remain ‘light and vivid
4. Step 4 : Finish with details, use the food markers to recreate the eyes and various facial expressions
5. Step 5 : put the eggs in an egg door that you will have colored with food dyes
6. Step 6 Give them!

If you prefer to use empty eggs, make a hole at each of the two ends of the same and blow strongly in one of the two holes, bringing out the egg content from the other cavity.

What if I’m not good at coloring, and I want to make eggs fast?

• You have to boil water in a pot, add a few drops of food coloring gel or powder
• Water will become colored, insert the eggs and boil them for 8/10 minutes. Easy, isn’t it? 

Different speech if you want to decorate a chocolate egg!

It always uses food dyes, but in this case they serve those based on cocoa butterYou can find them on our shop.

Why use these colors based on cocoa butter ?

Because they don’t fade, they stick well to chocolate and they stay bright. 

https://www.tuttopasticceria.it/coloranti-food/coloranti-a-base-of-bureau-for-chocolate-colorcioc.html

I coloring are used by pastries, but you can also use them, all can buy them on our shop.

• Before using them, unplug the film by opening the tin
• Close the jar
• Unlock the chocolate inside the bottle up to 27 degrees
• Always move the jar, and color the egg base by creating lines (cold for 2 minutes )
• Colouring agents can also be used on acetate sheets 
• The dyes can be mixed together by spreading them on the acetate irregularly.

Don’t you know how to use them? here’s a video of the master pastry Davide Comaschi, who guides you and suggests step by step!

https://youtu.be/2RpzALzcsgI

What are the chestnuts

The chestnuts are a typical sweet of the carnival shaped like small balls, from which they take the name for the form similar to chestnuts

Originary of Emilia Romagna and flavoured anise, nowadays they are prepared throughout Italy and prepared in many different varieties: filled with ricotta, pastry cream, chocolate, alchermes or oven.

What is the difference between chestnut and pancakes?

The chestnuts are a soft and fried sugary dough with a characteristic shape of balls that resemble chestnuts.

The pancakes can be both sweet and salty and have a roundish shape crushed, usually to prepare them just fry a batter of bread in oil or strut until they become golden

How do you make a perfect cooking of chestnuts?

Cooking chestnuts is not very simple but not impossible, if you happen that chestnuts burn and remain raw inside or are soaked with oil, the problem is only one temperature of oil.

It is necessary to wait for the oil to be warm at the right point, to be sure on the temperature you will just dip a toothpick or a small pond in the oil, if this starts to rub and there are so many bubbles the temperature is right.

If you have a kitchen thermometer, you will only have to keep the oil between 165° – 170°

But I recommend that you do not put too much chestnut to cook otherwise the temperature of the oil will go down and you will not have a good cooking.

Recipe of fried chestnuts

Now let’s see how to prepare delicious carnival chestnuts

Ingredients for 35 chestnuts:

– 200 g type 00 flour

-50 g potato starch

-2 medium-sized eggs

-60 g of sowing sugar

-30 g soft butter –

-2 tablespoons of rum or anise liqueur or whatever you prefer (25 ml)

-6 g chemical yeast for sweets –

-1 grated lemon peel

-1 grated orange peel

-a pinch of salt

– oil for frying

-Silk sugar to decorate

• Take all the ingredients (flavour, yeast, sugar, eggs, soft butter or oil, salt, lemon peel, liqueur) put them in a planetary and knead them until they get a homogeneous dough.
• Then let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.
• Spread the dough on a pavement and get some balls of about 10g each.
• At this point, bring the oil in temperature (between 165° and 170°) and start to cook the chestnuts at a time until they are golden, then drain and still hot pastels in the sugar semolate

Variant: baked chestnuts

If you do not love fry there is a variation of the baked chestnuts, much lighter seen that they are not fried but equally good.

The recipe is the same (above quoted) of the fried chestnuts will change only the method of cooking and sealing.

As for cooking, simply place the chestnuts in an oven pan and cook them in a preheated oven at 180° for 10 minutes, to check they are cooked, just put a stecchino in a chestnut, if the latter is dry, it means they are cooked.

Instead, as for the seal, still hot, you have to quickly pass them into orange juice or in a liquor wet to taste and then pass them into the sugar so that the sugar will be soaked.