I saw this recipe on Giada de Laurentiis' cooking show and thought, "I have to make this for Thanksgiving." So I did!
I used my pound cake instead of store bought, but other than that I followed her recipe (with the slight exception of not having enough orange liquor and having to use part liquor part simple syrup, rather than one or the other like she says). I've only made one other dessert of hers and it didn't come out great, so I was slightly hesitant, but this was wonderful! It came out perfectly. And it was relatively straight forward, albeit a little tedious, to make. Perhaps the best thing is, if you make the cake in advance or buy it, it doesn't use the oven so you don't have to worry about timing it around the turkey!
Basically, it is a layer of pound cake soaked with orange liquor or simple syrup (or, in my case, both), then a layer of chestnut whipped cream, a layer of imbibed pound cake, a layer of chocolate-orange whipped cream/mousse, cake, chestnut, cake, chocolate. Yum.
As for the taste, my mom and pops loved it. I really liked it but, as it turns out, I'm not a huge fan of chestnuts. I'd only had them once before in a dish with green beans, brussel sprouts (which I hate) and chunks of pancetta, and I liked them, but I think they were rather disguised by wonderful flavor of the pancetta. I digress. Still the orange and chocolate and pound cake was incredible together. And I didn't mind the chestnut layers, I just wasn't crazy about them. I may have to make this again without the chestnuts. Perhaps I'll substitute orange whipped cream. Or better yet, just use more of the incredible chocolate-orange mousse. I'll let you know if I do!
By the way, I'll post a photo soon, I promise.
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