chestnut
torte

8 extra large eggs – 61g
50g + 2 tablespoons cake flour
80g fresh white bread without crusts
180g very soft unsalted butter
the seeds from 2 vanilla pods
150g +100g caster sugar
600g of the prepared chestnut mixture

Without cracking them, put the whole eggs into a bowl and cover them with the hottest water your tap provides. Process the 50g of flour and the bread until you have fine breadcrumbs. Tear off two sheets of baking paper just slightly larger than the tins, invert a tin over the top, and using a sharp knife cut out two disks of paper. Using some of the softened butter, carefully grease both tins, press a disk of paper into the bottom of each, then with the remaining flour, flour the tins and knock out any excess.

Pre heat the oven to 175°C 
Put the butter and vanilla seeds into the bowl of an electric mixer, and whisk them until they are pale and voluminous. Add the150g caster sugar and continue whisking until it is dissolved. Drain the water from the eggs, and, reserving the whites, separate the yolks one at a time into the butter, making sure to mix each yolk in before continuing with the next.

Add the chestnut mixture, then the flour/bread. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks, add the remaining 100g of sugar a little at a time until completely incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold the meringue into the other bowl. Divide the mixture between the tins and put them into the oven. Cook the torte layers for 25 minutes, or until the edges just start to shrink away from the tins.

Stand the layers on a rack to cool, run a knife carefully around the edges, but do not attempt to remove them from the tins until they are completely cold.