Chestnut Roll

Ingredients

• 500 g medium-sized chestnuts
• 150 g sugar
• 50 ml white wine
• 50 ml grappa
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 pinch saffron strands
• 4 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 80 g sugar
• 125 g flour
• 0.5 tsp Baking powder
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 6 sheets of white gelatin
• 300 g chestnut purée (canned)
• 250 g mascarpone
• 80 g sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 2 tbsp rum
• 50 ml milk
• 200 ml whipped cream (at least 30% fat)
• powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 220°C (428°F) with top and bottom heat. For the vanilla chestnuts, cut crosswise on each chestnut, place on a baking tray, and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove, let cool, and peel all of them. In a pot, simmer sugar with 250 ml water over low heat for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and let the syrup cool. Pour wine and grappa into the syrup. Add the crushed vanilla pod and saffron, mix well, cover, and let steep for 4 hours. Layer the chestnuts in prepared jars, fill with syrup, seal tightly, store in a cool place, and use after 3-4 weeks.

2. 2.

   Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (392°F). Separate the eggs. Beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. Cream yolks with sugar. Mix flour with baking powder and vanilla sugar, fold into the mixture, then fold in the beaten egg whites. Spread the batter about 1 cm thick on a parchment-lined tray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes until pale, remove, and roll onto a damp kitchen towel. Remove parchment and roll the cake sheet with the towel. Let cool. Soak gelatin sheets in cold water. Whisk together chestnut purée, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla sugar, and rum. Dissolve pressed gelatin in milk over low heat in a small pot, whisk 3 tbsp of the cream into it, then stir into the remaining cream mixture. Fold in whipped cream at the end. Unroll the sponge cake onto a plate, spread chestnut cream, leave a small border, and re-roll with the kitchen towel. Slide onto a serving platter and dust with powdered sugar. Serve on a bed of vanilla chestnuts.