Fran Costigan – a.k.a. the “diva of dairy free desserts” – tells us she’s been using extra virgin olive oil in a lot of her baking. A culinary instructor at the Natural Gourmet Institute and the Institute of Culinary Education, both in New York, Fran’s known as a creative pastry chef who develops vegan desserts that taste great.

She recently sent us one of her newest creations: a traditional Italian cake made from chestnut flour. It’s known as Castagnaccio in Italy. Fran was inspired to make the cake for two reasons: her enthusiasm for baking with extra virgin olive oil, as well as her Italian intern, Alessandra Felice.

The cake is a favorite of Alessandra’s. “We made the cake together, using my own stash of chestnut flour brought home from a trip to Italy,” Fran told us.

Fran loves the cake, which also happens to be gluten-free thanks to the chestnut flour. “This cake is not sweetened at all,” Fran said.

“But chestnut flour has an innate sweetness, and it’s rich. I just can’t get enough.” (You can buy chestnut flour at specialty food stores and online. You want to use the freshest flour available and store it in your freezer.)

Fran notes when the intentionally thin chestnut flour cake is made properly, it’s crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Alessandra came up with the idea of poking short stems of rosemary into the batter – versus the more traditional step of sprinkling the cake with rosemary.

Fran recommends using a more pungent extra virgin olive oil, such as our Arbosana.  And while not traditionally done in Italy, Fran said a slice of the cake can be topped with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

A cookbook author, Fran is known for creating a wide range of dairy-free desserts. We’ve written about her vegan walnut brownies that use our Arbequina EVOO.  She’s also a consultant who has been working with pastry chefs and home cooks for 15 years on how to make delectable deserts that are free of eggs, dairy products and refined sugar.

We can now thank Fran for introducing us to her Castagnaccio cake.

Bon appétit,

Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch

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