Chestnut Pastry Cream For Chestnut Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Place milk and vanilla bean seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and cornstarch. Add eggs, and whisk mixture until pale and stiff. Continue whisking while slowly adding half of the hot milk mixture. Transfer egg mixture to saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. Place over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together chestnut paste and rum, if using. Remove egg mixture from heat, and whisk in chestnut paste mixture. Pour mixture into a wide shallow dish, and cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool. Strain through a fine mesh sieve before using.

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl halfway with ice water, and set aside. Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, the egg yolks, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in cornstarch, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk in chestnut puree.
• Bring milk and remaining 1/4 cup sugar to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Whisking constantly, gradually add half the milk mixture to the yolk mixture. Pour back into pan with remaining milk mixture, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pan. Boil for 2 minutes.
• Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Set bowl in ice water, and stir occasionally until cold, about 40 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a regular-size cupcake or muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside. Combine the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl, and then add the vanilla and egg mixture, one egg at a time, with the mixer on low speed. Add the Caramel. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and then increase the speed to medium and combine thoroughly. With the mixer the lowest speed, add the flour mixture and the sour cream, alternating between the two, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix only until just combined, do not over-mix.
• Fill the cupcake liners with a 16-size ice cream scoop, or about half full, and bake until dark golden and baked through, about 15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely.
• To assemble: Core each cupcake using an apple corer. Fill each cupcake with the Black Sesame Pastry Cream and generously frost with the Chestnut Cream Frosting so that the frosting resembles a mountain of noodles. Top each cupcake with a pair of the Black and White Sesame Chopsticks.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (or preferably an unlined copper pot), combine the sugar with 4 tablespoons water to moisten. Place over medium-high heat and, without stirring, cook until the sugar is dark amber in color. Meanwhile, place the cream in a saucepan over medium heat and warm to a simmer. Turn off the heat on the caramelized sugar and slowly add the warmed cream while stirring the caramel with a wooden spoon. Be careful as the mixture will splatter. Allow to thicken slightly over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice if using. Cool completely.
• Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. In a small bowl, whisk together the yolks with the sugar and cornstarch until smooth and well blended. While whisking, slowly pour in one-quarter of the milk into the yolk mixture to temper the yolks. Add the remainder of the milk, while whisking. Pour back into the saucepan and place on medium heat. Whisk vigorously and constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter, piece by piece. Add the tahini and black sesame powder, and whisk to blend. Cool completely.
• Cream together the chestnut paste and chestnut puree in a food processor fitted with a metal blade until smooth. Add the softened butter, powdered sugar, rum and vanilla extract, and continue to process until well blended. If chunks remain, press the cream through a fine sieve to remove any large chestnut chunks. Place the cream in a piping bag with a "spaghetti" tip.
• Line a half sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Coat the paper with cooking spray. Coat a wide spatula and a rolling pin with cooking spray.
• In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan or unlined copper pot, combine the sugar, vinegar and 1 teaspoon water. Cook over low heat until the sugar is melted and the mixture is thick. Stir a little. Cook until the sugar reaches 248 degrees F on a candy thermometer. At this point, add the sesame seeds to the sugar and stir well with a wooden spoon. Quickly scrape the mixture onto the parchment and spread evenly, first with the prepared spatula and next with the rolling pin. The desired thickness is about 1/16-inch thick. Cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
• Cut the candy into 12 chopstick shapes, each about 3 inches long, with the aid of a Chinese cleaver and a heavy pan. This technique makes cutting easier, even when the candy gets a bit hard. Let the candy cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round professional baking pans, and line bottoms with parchment. Butter parchment, and set aside. Using a chestnut knife or a small paring knife, make an incision about 1/8 inch deep through the shell and into the flesh of each chestnut almost all the way around the circumference of the nut. Transfer to a chestnut pan or rimmed baking pan. Roast in the oven until the chestnuts are tender, about 35 minutes. Turn the oven off. Leaving the pan with the chestnuts in the oven, remove several at a time. Working quickly, place 1 chestnut in a towel, and, holding both, peel the chestnut while still hot. Remove and discard the shells and inner skin; set aside. Heat the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Let chestnuts cool completely. Transfer chestnuts to the bowl of a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, and pulse until very finely ground; set aside.
• Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until foamy on medium-low speed, 5 to 6 minutes. With mixer running, slowly add 1/2 cup sugar. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until stiff peaks form, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer egg-white mixture to a bowl.
• Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together the cake flour, chestnut flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 6 tablespoons sugar. Add the egg yolks and the water, oil, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until smooth and well combined, about 1 minute.
• Using a rubber spatula, carefully and gently fold the flour mixture in 4 or 5 additions into the egg-white mixture until well combined. Gently fold in the reserved chestnuts and chocolate. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans, and bake on one shelf, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until golden and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean, about 65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. Invert pans to remove cakes. Remove the parchment paper.
• Place one layer on a cake round or directly onto a cake stand or serving platter. Using an offset spatula, evenly spread the pastry cream on top to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Place the other layer on top.
• Pour ganache on top; carefully spread to about 1/4 inch from edges. Ganache will overflow slightly and gently brim edges. Arrange marrons glaces on top of cake, spaced evenly. Set cake aside in a cool place to allow the ganache to firm.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C).
• Score the chestnuts in a cross with a knife.
• Place the chestnuts on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the chestnuts with a towel, and quickly peel the warm chestnuts.
• Put the peeled chestnuts in a pan and add water, sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Cook and stir the chestnut on high heat until the water has evaporated and chestnuts has softened, about 15 minutes.
• Place the chestnut filling in a food processor, add in water and blend until smooth.
• Push the chestnut filling through an sieve into another bowl.
• Transfer filling to a piping bag with a circle tip and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 200˚F (90˚C).
• In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy using a hand mixer.
• Add sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peak forms.
• Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a circle tip and pipe the meringue in a swirling motion onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake the meringue for 1 hour.
• Get the pie crust, and cut small circles to serve as the bottom for the meringue and bake for 30 minutes
• Place the meringue on top of the pie crust and pipe the whipped cream around it. Pipe the chestnut cream around the whipped cream.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment with spray. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a large bowl, and discard pod. Add 1 cup sugar, and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Add butter, and beat until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with chestnut puree after first addition and milk after second, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer batter to a large bowl.
• Beat egg whites in a clean bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. Whisk one-third of the egg whites into batter just until combined. Gently but thoroughly fold in remaining whites. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and smooth top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. (Cake can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
• Using a serrated knife, trim rounded top of cake to create a flat surface. Slice cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place bottom layer on a cake stand, and brush generously with Armagnac syrup. Spread 1 1/4 cups pastry cream over syrup, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edge. Top with second cake layer, syrup, and pastry cream. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom up. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Pour glaze over top, letting some drip down sides. Garnish with roasted chestnuts if desired.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, sugar, salt, egg, and egg yolk; whisk until well combined. Pour one-quarter of the boiling milk into egg mixture, whisking until combined. Whisk mixture back into remaining milk; place over medium-low heat. Whisk until mixture begins to bubble and has thickened, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla until butter is completely melted.
• Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; place bowl in the ice bath. Let stand until cold, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Steps:

• Score the skin of each chestnut with a sharp paring knife.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add chestnuts and cook for 25 minutes. Drain.
• Peel chestnuts while still warm. Transfer to a food processor. Add 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and 4 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream; puree until smooth.
• Combine remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream, white sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl. Beat until quite thick, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly mix into the egg mixture. Gradually beat remaining 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar into the egg mixture.
• Stir chestnut puree into the egg mixture, making sure to blend in well.