So here's the first post of the new and improved non-password-protected food blog. To celebrate let's make a cake! But not just any cake, oh no, something seasonal and delicious and, since we're in the country where all food is described as fondant, it better be that too! Sometimes I really just have to make a cake, but since I don't want to be stuck with an entire cake for weeks I don't make cakes as often as I would like, however when I do get around to baking one I spend way too long looking through cook books, recipes online, and other food blogs searching for the perfect cake.
Normally you would expect me to make something spicy with lots of cinnamon and cloves and "Christmas flavors", but actually I have noticed that in France they aren't so into cinnamon and what is considered "holiday" is not necessarily spiced. What is Christmas-y over here is chestnuts. I've seen carts out selling roasted chestnuts here and there which marks the beginning of the holiday season. This cake, which is incredibly easy to make, is flavored with a healthy dose of chestnut purée, something that can easily be found at any supermarket here (if you're in America, sorry, I have no idea where to find it and making homemade chestnut purée is a huge pain in the ass, especially considering the store-bought products is just as good and less grainy).
I must confess that I have an enormous weakness for this stuff. It's sort of like Nutella or Speculoos à tartiner: you go to use some, just a little to spread on a tartine, and you end up glutinously scarfing down two or three gratuitous spoonfuls - I completely lose all will power around this stuff. So it's a good thing I bought two cans when the recipe only calls for 200 grams...
Back to the cake! It's slightly adapted from this recipe - the only difference is I didn't have 50g. vanilla sugar so I just used half cassonade (raw sugar) and half regular sugar.
Waiting for the cake to bake and enjoying the warmth of my chestnut-scented living room, I looked out the window and to my delight there was blue sky! Today was a particularly nice day: it was freezing cold, but at least there was sun. Recently it has been raining, threatening to rain, or pouring rain. Plus it's cold - snow is coming. Cooking in a sunny kitchen is always so much nicer.