PASTRY PANTHEON:
A COLLECTION OF ESSENTIAL CLASSICS

CASTAGNACCIO
Pastry Chef Gina DePalma, Babbo
New York, NY
www.babbonyc.com

From the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali (Clarkson Potter, 2002)

Makes one 9-inch cake

1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 1/3 cups chestnut flour
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1/4 cup chestnut honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped candied orange zest

Honey Syrup
1/2 cup chestnut honey
1/4 cup vin santo
2-inch strip fresh orange zest

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the inside of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and reserve.

Toast walnuts and pine nuts on a baking sheet for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside to cool and reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, chestnut honey, and olive oil. In a separate mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and create "a well" in the center. Pour wet ingredients into the well. Using your hands, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. You will have a very sticky batter. Add cherries, raisins, orange zest, walnuts, and pine nuts and mix well to incorporate.

Using damp hands, evenly pat the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the cake pan after 10 minutes. The cake will puff slightly when done.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the honey syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes; remove from heat, and reserve.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately brush with some honey syrup. Allow the cake to cool and remove the sides of the springform pan. Brush the cake with the remaining honey syrup. Just before serving, lightly dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Cut cake into wedges and serve.

CHESTNUT MONT BLANC (Mont Blanc aux Marrons)

Adapted from Auguste Escoffier's The Illustrated Escoffier, Recipes from the French Classic Tradition, Edited by Anne Johnson (International Culinary Society, 1987)

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound (about 4 cups) peeled chestnuts
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 1/4 cups sweetened whipped cream

In a pot, combine milk, sugar, vanilla bean, and chestnuts and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about 35 to 40 minutes or until chestnuts are very tender. Drain chestnuts and pass through a course sieve into a ring mold and refrigerate. Unmold before serving and fill the center with sweetened whipped cream, forming into a rugged, irregular shape.