Products for this post were provided by Melissa’s Produce.
It’s time for another Melissa’s Produce Challenge! This challenge is dubbed “Winter Wonderland” and features an array of delicious winter produce items from Melissa’s. San Diego Food Bloggers have been participating in these ‘Chopped-style” challenges for almost a year. Melissa’s Produce sends us a box of seasonal items and our challenge is to create a recipe using some of the ingredients. We kicked it up a notch this time and gave ourselves a real test by requiring all 7 (yes, 7) ingredients from our Melissa’s box to be used in two recipes – one savory and one sweet. We linked all our posts together with a link-up below so be sure to check them all out.
As noted in my savory recipe for Allergen-free Potato Latkes, the biggest challenge for me was including potatoes two times. We had both steamed baby potatoes and Melissa’s famous DYP’s (Dutch Yellow Potatoes) in the box. Also included were Korean pears, Korean Jeju mandarins, steamed beats, steamed chestnuts and Christmas Crunch grapes.
I wanted a creative way to use the steamed baby potatoes rather than just simply mashing or sautéing them. Plus, I wanted to use them in a sweet recipe. I had tried cookies and cake made with potato before and it was pretty good so I set out to make a gluten-free cake with potatoes.
As I mentioned in my potato latke post, I’ve been on a very restricted diet, lately. Due to my baby boy’s suspected allergies, I’ve cut out the top 7 food allergens from my diet since I’m breastfeeding him. No dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts or shellfish. Now, I didn’t cut dairy and eggs out with this cake because, well, it’s already gluten-free and I wasn’t willing to compromise on flavor and texture. A truly allergen-free cake will have to wait for another day. Besides, I had to use the chestnuts so cake tasting was out for me anyhow.
You must be wondering how I know it is good if I haven’t tried it. I trust my husband implicitly as my taste-tester. He has been well-trained over the years to look for taste, texture, mouth feel, flavor combinations, etc. I grilled him incessantly and he gave this recipe two thumbs up. This means if you tell me it sucks, he’s in trouble!
I have tasted the sauce and it is amazingly delicious. I think you could put it on anything and it would taste good. In fact, I’m licking a spoonful right now…
A special thank you to Melissa’s Produce for providing this and other challenges to the San Diego Food Bloggers and inspiring us with their amazing produce.
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I received the above-mentioned box of items from Melissa’s Produce to create a recipe featuring said ingredients. I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.
Gluten-free Chestnut Cake with Grape Beet Sauce
www.barbaracooks.com
Adapted from BBC Good Food
Servings: 10 • Size: 1/8 cake with ¼ cup sauce • Weight Watcher Points+: 10
Calories: 378 • Fat: 12g • Carbs: 68g • Fiber: 5g • Protein: 6g
Sugars: 45g • Sodium: 155mg • Cholesterol: 88mg
Ingredients:
Chestnut Cake:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 8 ounces Melissa’s steamed baby potatoes, mashed (about 1 ¼ cup packed)*
- 1 (6.5 ounce) package Melissa’s steamed chestnuts, rough chopped
*For the best texture, use a ricer to mash the potatoes.
Grape Beet Sauce:
- 2 cups Melissa’s Christmas Crunch grapes, de-stemmed
- 8 ounces Melissa’s steamed baby beets
- ½ cup sugar
Directions:
Chestnut Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Cut a round of parchment and place it in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each into the mixture before adding the next, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla, flour and baking powder and continue mixing the ingredients until smooth. Add in the chopped chestnuts and continue mixing until fully combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top evenly. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake and let cool completely.
Slice and serve with sauce.
Grape Beet Sauce:
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Lightly mash with a fork or potato masher. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.
Sauce can be chilled and served cold or at room temperature.