Known in French as Gâteau Ardéchois, this Chestnut Cream Cake is a rustic recipe originating from the French Ardèche, in Southeastern France. Made with homemade chestnut cream, this simple cake yields an incomparable nutty taste and a wonderfully rich, moist texture from the chestnut spread. This is a home bakers’ favorite, and a great French classic to add to your Winter repertoire.
A Rustic Southern French Cake
Located in Southeastern France, the Ardèche is a department famous for its valleys, trails, lush forests and abundance of chestnuts. Chestnut purée, roasted chestnuts, candied chestnuts, chestnut cream… the local repertoire boasts a variety of chestnut-focused recipes, with this Chestnut Cream Cake being one of the most popular.
This simple cake recipe involves a basic batter of flour, sugar, eggs and a good amount of butter and chestnut cream, resulting in a cake that tastes rich and flavorful.
About Chestnut Cream
The star ingredient of this cake recipe is – you’ve probably guessed it – chestnut cream. Known in French as “crème de marrons”, chestnut cream is the ultimate Winter treat in France, enjoyed by kids and adults alike. It is made from cooked chestnuts, peeled and reduced to a puree to which a syrup is then added to turn it into a sweet paste. We love to enjoy it on toast, waffles, crêpes, or stirred into yogurts. It is also the star ingredient of some classic French desserts, like a fancy Mont Blanc or this Gateau Ardèchois.
Chestnut cream is sold in tubes or cans in France and can be found in most grocery stores. I recommend the Clement Faugier brand, which is made in Ardèche. For those outside of France who can’t find it that easily, I offer on this blog a recipe for homemade Chestnut Cream. Especially for this cake recipe, I like to make my own chestnut cream ahead of time, as I know exactly the amount of sugar that is in it. I also always prefer fresh, homemade ingredients.
However, when chestnuts aren’t in season, or for convenience, you can definitely make this cake with store-bought chestnut cream. I guarantee it will taste delicious too!
Cooking Tips and Substitutions
- This Chestnut Cream Cake is traditionally baked in a large circular cake pan. I usually use a 9-inch circular pan, which is perfect. Avoid using a smaller pan (ie. 8-inch circular pan) as this cake is slightly bigger than your average cake. You can also use a large Bundt cake pan here.
- Use pristine equipment. When beating the egg whites, make sure you are using a bowl and beater that are perfectly clean. Egg whites tend to refuse to whip if they encounter any residual fat or even if there are tiny amounts of egg yolk.
- Fold, don’t stir. When folding the egg whites with the chestnut mixture, use a large rubber spatula and be gentle. The important thing is not to stir, but fold. In small additions, carefully place a portion of the egg whites on top of the chestnut mixture and fold it in by using a flipping motion. Stop when the batter is just uniform – do not overmix.
How to Store This Chestnut Cream Cake
- Chill it. After making (and enjoying) this cake – if you have any leftovers – you can cover it with plastic film. Store it in the fridge for up to 6-7 days.
- Freeze it. Once the cake is baked and completely cooled to room temp, wrap it in aluminum foil. Then place it in a freezer-safe container (ie. tupperware), for up to 3 months.
I hope you’ll love this Chestnut Cream Cake as much as I do! If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
More French cake recipes you may like:
- French Walnut Coffee Cake (Gâteau Grenoblois)
- Classic French Apple Cake
- Lemon Yogurt Poppy seed Cake
- Classic French Chocolate Moelleux Cake
- Classic French Pear Cake
44 comments
I am surpised that you beat the egg whites as the first step … I always do it as the last one … however, I am going to try this chestnut cake as I have a lot of chestnut cream …. 🙂
Hi Mona. The goal here is to have your 3 different bowls ready (step 1 // step 2+3 // step 4) for the final folding/mixing (step 5). If you would like to do step 1 – beating the egg whites- after step 3 or 4, or vice versa, it is perfectly fine 🙂 Happy Baking!
Hi Mona, I always beat egg whites first because –
they need clean, dry beaters;
Once beaten, I can use my hand-held electric mixer to beat the eggs/sugar, add the butter, add the flour, etc. At the last, I use a large metal spoon to fold in the beaten egg whites.
How to get fluffy meringue and beaten yolk/sugar/butter from one set of beaters.
If you prefer, you could do it the other way round and throughly clean and dry your beaters before whisking your meringue, and if that makes you happy, I will not cavil.
Same, I followed the recipe and was able to use the mixer again after the whites were whipped. The cake came out great. I added toasted shaved cocanut and a dusting of powdered sugar to the top, but I think next time I’ll make a whipped cream (potentially add Frangelico). Great recipe!
Thanks so much, John! So happy you enjoyed it. The Frangelico and whipped cream would no doubt be delicious!
The cake tastes amazing, but it’s quite big. Does it freeze well?
Thanks, and yes it does! Once the cake is baked and completely cooled to room temp, wrap it in aluminum foil and then place it in a freezer-safe container (ie. tupperware). It can freeze for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Is there a way to print out the recipe?
Yes there is a “print this” button in the recipe box. Enjoy!
I found the link. Looking forward to trying this.
Perfect, thanks!
I used ready made chestnut paste, which is quite dry, so I thinned it out with some milk when I was mixing it with the butter. Is this a good idea? How thick should the final batter be? Mine did not pour, I had to scoop it out because it stand on its own.
Hi Monina. Yes there is no harm in thinning out the chestnut cream if it is too dry. It sounds like you reached the right batter consistency: it is supposed to be quite fluffy/thick and not pourable. You are supposed to gently scoop it into the pan, you can’t pour it. I hope you enjoyed this cake!
How many days will it last in the refrigerator?
I keep mine for about a week in the fridge. After that, it tends to dry out. Happy baking!
Loved it at Christmas. Baking it again tomorrow to share with twice-vaccinated folks who used to live in France. It’s wonderful. But, actually, I’ve kept the Chestnut Creme since Christmas and can see no reason why it should not be perfectly safe. Sugar, water, chestnuts, and vanilla. All stable.
Thank you Jennifer, happy baking!
Can I use chestnut purée such as
Sabaton, purée de matrons?
I can’t find chestnuts I my area
Thanks
Hello Cecile. After doing a little research, I have come to this conclusion – yes, it would work, but it would be slightly different. I say this because the Creme de Marron I use has sugar and vanilla added to it. The Sabaton brand seems to be pure chestnut, nothing added. So, I assume the texture would be mostly the same, but the taste (and sweetness) would not.
I made a simpler version of this with store bought chestnut spread. It was just delicious. Not too sweet. Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely nothing wrong with store bought chestnut cream, I use it all the time! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Amy.
I found baked/cooked soft peeled chestnuts that are sold in air shrunk bags. So how many grams of it would you need to make the paste? Any clues of how many grams of the boiled chestnuts you blend after all?
Luckily, I’ve made my own chestnut cream and the recipe can be found at this link. I hope you find it useful!
Audrey — Can I make the cake using Chestnut Spread? I bought a 500 g. can the last time I was in Paris and I have no idea what to do with it. It is by clement Faugier and the ingredients are chestnuts (50%), sugar, candied marrons, glucose syrup, water, vanilla natural essence.
Does the can look exactly like this? If so, I use this very often myself and it works wonderfully!
Chestnuts are almost impossible to find locally, we use Ebay to find them. However, just before Christmas COSTCO had a box of prepped chestnuts ! This cake is excellent.
Vince, I can’t lie.. I laughed a little that chestnuts were available on Ebay! So glad you ended up finding some at Costco, I had no idea they sold them there. But makes sense during the Christmas season. Here’s to hoping chestnuts become more available so you can make this throughout the year! Thanks for enjoying!
Hi. If I use a Bundt cake, how long should I bake it at 350 degrees?
Thank you
Hi, Theresa. I’ve not yet made this using a bundt pan, but if I did I’d definitely start checking around the 35min mark to see if a toothpick comes out clean. The “hole” in the middle ensures the cake bakes faster, so 35min is when I’d start looking. Hope this helps!
Another question please.
If I have a jar of Agrimontana chestnut cream at 350 grams, versus 500 grams called for in your recipe, can I substitute something else or should I go find more cream?
Thank you
I’ve unfortunately never found a suitable substitute for chestnut cream, Theresa. I’ve tried a couple things and even through research online, nothing seems to be quite the same. It’s really unique in texture.
Dear Audrey,
I made your Gateau Ardèchois yesterday using Clement Faugier’s chestnut cream. It has a different and wonderful flavor and is an excellent recipe. Thank you!
One question- my oven was exactly 350 F. I used a wetted baking band (bake even strip) around the outside of the deep cake pan. I first checked it at 50 minutes and the center was still wet. It took about a total of 65-68 minutes to fully bake. It tastes great and looks like yours but since I have never eaten chestnut cake before I have nothing to measure it by (for moistness). Does my baking time seem ok to you or did I do something wrong?
Hello, Mary. I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake! Thank you for commenting.
In regards to your question, I can honestly say that sometimes a cake just takes more or less time to bake. Depends on altitude, season, flour, ingredients etc. So, I wouldn’t worry too much about the baking time, you handled it perfectly! Always check for doneness, and bake more/less if required.
Sounds like you nailed it!
I just made your Chestnut cream cake this evening and my husband and I absolutely LOVE it! I was surprised to see the low rating on this recipe because I’ve tried your other recipes to rave results, so I tried it anyway and I’m glad I did. I’ve never had a chestnut cream cake before, so this was a lovely new cake to add to my repertoire. I look forward to having another slice tomorrow with a cup of coffee!
Thank you so very much, Akshaya, I am thrilled that you enjoyed this cake. I absolutely love it as well and am a touch confused as to the low ratings myself, but I have learned over time to ignore the rating as much as I can, and try to focus on the reviews themselves or just by trusting a certain website/cook/chef.
Please enjoy a slice for me, with your coffee! I’m definitely going to have to whip up another one of these sooner than later 🙂
What is your opinion on using a mini loaf pan? In Googling it, it appears that in a recipe intended for a 9″ round pan, would make 8 2.5″ x 4″.5″ loaves. I would like to give a Christmas gifts. Do you think this recipe is suited for that?
Not sure about the timing, guess I would just have to watch it closely. 20-25 min. maybe?
Hello Barbara! In many cases, a cake can be scaled down to mini loaves “without problem” minus the biggest problem of them all, which you mentioned – time! While I haven’t made these into smaller loaves, I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t work, And I think the 20min mark is a good starting point to give them a check. I’d actually peak through the oven window at around 15min just to see where I’m at, but I’d assume I’d start toothpick checking around the 20min mark. Hope they work out and would love to hear how long they actually took for you!
Thanks Audrey! I will definitely let you know.
I’m so confused about beating eggwhites without the sugar. I tried it 4 times. They just kept breaking before anything like a firm peak. I guess I’m only familiar with beating eggwhites with sugar, not alone, so that’s a much more silky, elastic result. They would start to thicken up and look okay but not quite firm. Even the best (least broken) result was soft until after sitting there while I got the other ingredients ready, when I found that even they had broken and separated with most of the water below them. I just had to go forward with broken and separated proteins and opted to leave most of the loose water out. What is the technique for firm peaks without sugar?
Quite an odd situation that I haven’t found my eggs to give me, Emerieta. Do you source your eggs from one place/farm in specific? All that said, here’s what I’d do in your situation… Just add a few (1 or 2) teaspoons of the sugar to the whites to see if that helps. You don’t need super firm peaks, try perhaps stopping right before it gets to the firm point as well.
Lastly, without knowing your process, do you gradually raise the speed to high when beating, or go straight to high? Try a more gradual approach and see if it helps. It’s a situation I’d love to help with, but is new to me as well. Best of luck!
These eggs were from a neighbor, various chicken/duck varieties. They’ve never seemed too old to me, but I’ve never tried to whip the whites before. I can try with different eggs, and also try a little of the sugar next time. We’ll see. Thank you.
Let me know how that works out for you. It legitimately could just be those specific eggs, for whatever reason. Trying out another “type” will tell us for sure.
Hi Audrey, I have just made this chestnut cake and it’s in the oven? I also made the chestnut cream which came out like a yummy thick paste. The mixture tastes great, it’s a very heavy mix I’m worried my chestnut cream was too thick ! After reading the comments this sounds normal. I’m looking forward to trying tomorrow when I have guests over for Iftar.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe 🙂
Hello Aisha, thanks so much for trying the recipe. The chestnut cream can definitely be on the thick side, so don’t worry too much about that. My husband calls it chestnut cement, so, yes… It’s thick 🙂
Anyways, I apologize for the late reply, I was on a little vacation. Truly hope you enjoyed the cake!