Japanese Chestnut Tea Cake

Well, this sounded like something I would love, as I love chestnuts, but it would be a very expensive mistake, reading the comments. Only one person had success with this recipe and the author nor the magazine responded to the comments. Very disappointing!

Wow. I am stunned by the comments below. I have made this cake twice to rave reviews. I found the Clement Faugier brand on Amazon with no issues and it came out perfectly. It isn't super sweet, but incredibly flavorful. I used whipped cream as a garnish once and vanilla creme fraiche the second time and both were lovely. The only modification I made was using spiced rum rather than the golden rum. It was all I had on hand and was perfectly fine. My only comment as far as the picture looking the same as the finished product was that my halved chestnuts sank into the cake and did not sit prettily on top. So sorry to hear others had such issues. I think I am making it for Thanksgiving this year!

So... I read all the comment during the baking step. I was so worried. But mine came out really nice and good. 1. I couldn't find Chessnut pure (100%) so I use Chessnut Puree (38%) and it's less expensif. 2. With my 38% chessnut pure I use 1 1\2 cup of sugar, I might use 1\2 cup because; it was really sweet for me. Japanese dessert (Wagashi) are not suppose to be sweet or not sweet at all. 3. I bake it in a "cupcake" tray. 20 min 350°F and 10 min 325°F. 4. LET IT COOL . This step is important ! It's like a cheesecake bake recipe. You have to let it cool at least 2h in the fridge. Using small pan, get everything faster. I don't think it's important but instead of chessnut has topping i use pecan. Finally, the batter looks really really weird, it does look "seperate" even after adding all the ingredient. The amount of almond flour look okay. If you are looking for a sponge cake\american texture this cake is not for you... sorry! I add a picture of the final result. Please feel free to reach out on my Instagram, if you have any question! I'm from Canada

I too made this recipe today with high hopes. It pretty much taste like canned dog food. I think something is wrong with the amount of eggs (10eggs?), Very little sugar with unsweetened paste (I made my own so could have been too dense), very small amount of almond flour. It's more like a suffle, that went bad. I bought really good rum for this recipe and am using it now to console my dissapointment. 😉

I made this recipe step by step. It was a disaster like the below commenter said. The cake was dense and flavorless. Also, I couldn’t find “chestnut paste” on amazon, only purée or spread. I used the purée and because it doesn’t have sugar, maybe that’s where it went wrong. I’m curious to see if anyone was able to find the paste?

Dear f&w, I have made this cake today, following every step and getting the right ingredients down to the same brand. However the cake was a disaster. First the only indicator of doneness in your recipe was 45 minutes and when the center of the cake springs back up when lightly pressed. I baked my cake 50 minutes and the center springs back but the insides are wet and oily, an indication that it was not baked enough. Two, how can ⅓cup of almond flour be 1¼ ounce? Did anyone at f&w ever verify your recipes by actually cooking it? Or do you simply copy and paste whatever was sent to you? Three, the chestnut paste is very dark, even with all the eggs and egg whites and flour, the finished product is no way as golden in color as shown in your photo. So did you photoshop the pictures to achieve such desired result? I love chestnut desserts yet this is a total disappointment.

Could you please clarify the ingredient "chestnut paste"? I looked up the chestnut paste described and I do not see chestnut "paste". There is chestnut puree and chestnut spread. The puree is not sweetened. The spread has sugar added. I assume not using the correct one would greatly alter the outcome of the dish.