Olive oil cake with chestnuts

A delicious Winter time cake to accompany your tea or to have it plain any time of the day

Ingredients (for 8-10 servings):
150gr. olive oil
150ml of fresh orange juice
150gr. of chestnut cream (recipe follows at the end)
300gr. of all-purpose flour
100gr. of ground almonds
150gr. of icing sugar + a bit extra for dusting
1 tsp of baking powder
10 maron glacé (candied chestnuts), finely chopped + 2-3 whole ones to garnish

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush with butter and lightly flour a medium round cake tin.

In a large bowl put the olive oil, the orange juice, the chestnut cream and stir well. Then add the rest of the ingredients and gently stir until you have a well blended mixture.

Empty the batter into the tin, smooth the surface with a spatula and put in the oven. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Insert a toothpick or a knife blade in the centre of the cake and if it comes out clear and dry the cake is ready.

Leave the cake to rest in the tin for a few minutes and then take out on a rack to cool completely. Dust on the top with icing sugar, garnish with the whole candied chestnuts and serve.

For the chestnut cream (for 1Kg):
1Kg of chestnuts (boiled until soft and carefully peeled and cleaned)
300gr. granulated sugar
100ml of water
30ml dark rum
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Method:
Before you boil the chestnuts score the bottom of them with a sharp knife.

In a saucepan put the sugar along with the water on medium heat and bring to the boil. From that moment boil the syrup for 3 minutes and leave aside to cool down. Mash the chestnuts in a blender, gradually adding the syrup, the vanilla and the rum.

When you have a well blended and rather smooth mixture put in a bowl and leave in the fridge until it comes together and it is well set.