Marron Glacé
How to Make the Festive Sweet
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 300 g Chestnuts - fresh, shell on
- Vanilla - or regular Caster Sugar 300g. Remember that whatever the weight of peeled chestnuts you have, match that in sugar.
- 300 ml Water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract - best quality
Instructions
Cooking and Peeling Chestnuts
- The easiest and quickest way to complete this unenviable task is to plunge the chestnuts into boiling water for anything between 2-5 minutes. The brown papery skin should come away with the outer shell.
- Once you have peeled the chestnuts, place them in a large pan of cold water and bring up to the boil. Simmer very gently for 15 minutes or until a skewer pierces them easily. Take care not to overboil them or they will disintegrate. If they do start to disintegrate, it isn’t the end of the world. Continue the process anyway using the broken pieces. You can now buy Marron Glaces pieces as well as whole Chestnuts,
- Gently using a slotted spoon, remove the chestnuts to a colander and drain.
- Weigh your peeled, cooked chestnuts. I had exactly 198g. So, I needed to use 198g of sugar, and 198g of water for the syrup.
To make the Glace
- Heat together water and sugar until boiling and the sugar is dissolved.
- Carefully add the Chestnuts, bring back to the boil, then immediately turn off. Cover the pan with the syrup and chestnuts and leave to cool in a warm environment.
- The next day, bring the pan of chestnuts and syrup up to the boil again, turning off as soon as it starts to boil. Cover and leave.
- Repeat the next night, adding a few drops of vanilla extract if you didn’t use vanilla sugar. By this time, the Chestnuts should have absorbed all the syrup. If there is a lot left, repeat the process once more.
- This process of gradually inundating the nuts with the sugar syrup preserves them but also helps to keep their shape. If they were boiled for longer at a time, they nuts (or fruit) would stand the risk of disintegration.
- To complete the process, again using a slotted spoon, delicately remove the candied nuts and place them on a cooling rack that has been lined with greaseproof paper.
- Preheat the oven to 70c and place the nuts in the oven to dry out. Leave the oven door open.
- Once they have set up, you can place them daintily in little petits four cases if you're feeling in a giving and sharing mood, or just eat them straight down!
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
Nutrition Facts
Marron Glacé
Amount per Serving
Calories
50
% Daily Value*
Fat
1
g
2
%
Saturated Fat
1
g
6
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
1
g
Sodium
2
mg
0
%
Potassium
121
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
11
g
4
%
Sugar
1
g
1
%
Protein
1
g
2
%
Vitamin A
7
IU
0
%
Vitamin C
10
mg
12
%
Calcium
6
mg
1
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.