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Chestnut flour - the recipe for great cake

Posted at 9:56AM, 09 January 2008 by Mary Cadogan - Food writer

I recently discovered an ancient mill tucked away in a pretty river valley near my home in the Charente, that not only produces organic wheat and maize flours, but also presses exquisite walnut and hazelnut oils, and grinds the cake that is left after the oil is extracted into nut flour. Lucky for me, locals and visitors, the mill is open every day, selling produce and showing visitors around.

At this time of year they sell chestnut flour which I always make the most of when it's available due to its short shelf life. It has a mildly nutty flavour and is very fine in texture so the Lemon crème fraîche and chestnut cake I made with it came out beautifully light and delicate.

Actually I can't praise chestnut flour enough as it's great to serve friends with a wheat intolerance. And it gives much nicer results than other heavier grains, with none of the dry gritty texture often associated with wheat-free baking. I've found out that Shipton Mill and Let's Go Italian sell the flour online, as well as the special selection in the larger Sainsbury's branches.

I must come clean and confess that I can't take all the credit for this Lemon crème fraîche and chestnut cake as I adapted it from the one given to me at the mill. I have made it a couple of times now and I reckon it's pretty damn good, though perhaps a chocolate frosting wouldn't go amiss. It uses crème fraîche in place of butter and the little bit of lemon zest balances the chestnut flavour really well. I keep it in a tin for up to a week, or if I know I'm not going to get through it, freeze it for a couple of months maximum. For a treat, I sometimes warm it through and serve with cinnamon or chocolate ice cream and have it for pud...

Comments

issie1414

10 January 2008, 9:26AM
issie1414

This sounds wonderful, I am going to try it when I can get the Chestnut Flour,not seen it in my local supermache, tried to get onto link for the ancient mill, but it will not open. Will have a look in Yell and try and find the mill in the Charentre. Thanks once again Mary for a new French recipe to try

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cutielou

6 February 2008, 10:51AM
cutielou

Mary, This sounds really interesting and am definately going to give it a try.Thank You

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v1

26 April 2009, 5:37PM
v1

I recently bought chestnut flour at Infinity's in Brighton for c Â£7.00. but then saw that the Guardian recipe I was following suggested getting the flour from Shipton Mill for half the price. There is a web site to order, and whilst there is a large postal charge Â£5.00) as they have a huge range of other flours it may be worth buying other things at the same time

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CLFORWARD

13 April 2010, 2:28PM
CLFORWARD

Chestnut flour is one of our most popular products. We have kept the price as reasonable as possible at Â£5.95 for 500g. It might be worth knowing that the flour, along with all our other flour can be put in the freezer/fridge and so buying in bulk, as some of our regulars do, makes the delivery charge a little more bearable! Catherine (owner of Let's Go Italian)

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GardeningGal

1 December 2011, 7:44PM
GardeningGal

It is worth trying Indian supermarkets it is called Singoda Flour. Am trying out a cake recipe right now!

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LillyPilly

11 April 2012, 12:56PM
LillyPilly

GardenGal, singoda flour is made from water chestnuts, not tree chestnuts. I do not know how it would affect the texture, but the flavour of this cake would be very, very different using singoda.

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