Soft Castagnaccio Cake: the traditional recipe of Italian cuisine

Castagnaccio cake is a traditional recipe of Italian cuisine and it is a soft dessert prepared with chestnut flour and pine nuts, raisins, walnuts and rosemary, widespread in Tuscany, Piedmont, Liguria and Puglia. The birthplace of Castagnaccio can not be established with certainty because the chestnut is widespread in these regions, but we know that it is a dessert with peasant origins whose recipe is handed down from family to family with different peculiarities.

Of course, we all agree that to accompany chestnut flour, the main ingredient, there are always pine nuts, rosemary, raisins and walnuts.
The quantities of its ingredients vary and there are those who even say it is a recipe whose doses are always and only the much loved and hated "as much as it is needed".

Instructions

Let toast the pine nuts in a non-stick pan or in the oven 1 and put the raisins in lukewarm water.

Sift the chestnut flour 2 and add the water 3 always stirring to prevent the formation of lumps.

1

2

3

Step 1

Let toast the pine nuts in a non-stick pan or in the oven 1 and put the raisins in lukewarm water.

Add sugar, salt, oil 4 and more water if needed. The dough should be neither too thick nor too liquid, similar to a batter and, working it, you will notice how much water to put 5.

4

5

6

Step 4

Sift the chestnut flour 2 and add the water 3 always stirring to prevent the formation of lumps.

Add the raisins
and the toasted pine nuts to the mixture.
Grease the pan with oil and pour it all together.
Decorate the surface with walnuts, pine nuts, rosemary and if you want more raisins.

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8

9

Step 7

Add sugar, salt, oil 4 and more water if needed. The dough should be neither too thick nor too liquid, similar to a batter and, working it, you will notice how much water to put 5.

Finish with a little oil and bake at 180° C in a preheated ventilated oven for about 40 minutes.
Do not worry if the surface crack, it's normal!