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Uses for Chestnut Paste/Spread


Gifted Gourmet

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I just got this note from my daughter:

I found a tube of  vanilla chestnut spread at Shopper's Corner the other day & bought it  because it sounded so delicious. Any ideas for recipes?

So I sent her this recipe from Jacques Pepin which he says is "super easy" and delicious ...

But in what other ways might she use her new purchase? :rolleyes:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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She is welcome to send it to me, if that will help solve the problem. PM me if she wants my address. :wink:

Judy Jones aka "moosnsqrl"

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.

M.F.K. Fisher

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I think it would be great to put the paste through a ricer, fold it gently into some lightly sweetened whipped cream and then fill some small meringue shells with the mixture.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Maybe I'm a purist, but I think she should just squeeze it into her mouth. :biggrin:

Apart from that, fill some thumbprint cookies. I've done it with sweet chestnut puree with excellent results.

-Linda

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Maybe I'm a purist, but I think she should just squeeze it into her mouth.  :biggrin:

Last night's email from my daughter agreed with the purist, quickest for immediate gratification, sentiment: squeeze and enjoy!

Thanks to everyone for your advice .. I may actually buy a tube of the stuff and give it a try myself! :wink:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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  • 5 months later...

is it sweetened or unsweetened?

The Cake Bible has some chestnut cake recipes - the cake calls for chestnut flour, but the filling calls for chestnut puree. You could make a mousse filling for a chocolate cake (or tart crust) and if you find any candied chestnuts at this time of year, you could add those. Or maybe some candied ginger bits. I used to have a recipe for a white choc chestnut pave (terrine) but it's lost to eternity now. Too bad because it was nice to eat - marbled blobs of white choc chestnut and dark choc mousse in a plastic-lined terrine or loaf mold, then glazed with more dark choc.

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I would probably say mont blanc , I used make them with the meringue base no the sponge , and the chestnuts paste on top and whip cream as well ( thats the italian version anyway ).I used to make also chestnuts tarts they are very nice ,I used fresh chestnuts but I think the paste will be much easyer because clean up chestnuts isnt fun at all :hmmm: I woul add ricotta cheese , beat it up with couple of eggs and some vanilla and sugar till nice and creamy then add chestnuts paste and then in the crust and bake it ,I love them.

Vanessa

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A very good and simple recipe for Chocolate chestnut cake comes from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess. I was searching to replicate my mother-in-law's version and found this to be good, but in a cakier way.

If only Jack Nicholson could have narrated my dinner, it would have been perfect.

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traditionally although around the holidays IE Christmas,

one type Buche yule log would be made, a flourless chocolate sponge, and an anglasie based chestnut bavarian. something to think about a little later this year perhaps, when I think chestnuts I think Winter, they go exceptionally well with chocolate like a dark chocolate mousse juxtoposition with linear piped lines, maybe with a chocolate (thin layer joconde or flourless punched with rum) and buildt up as a Pave'.

Michael

P.S. Most Americans don't know what they are missing, Chestnuts are Fab...

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Thank you very much for the ideas.....

The label is not marked if it's sweetened or non-sweetened. It tastes fairly neutral with just a bit of sweetness.

Has anyone tried chestnut ice cream??? Did you strain out the texture before churning?

I have not made it, but I've had it a number of times.

What I can say is that it's quite nice to have some chestnut bits in it because it cuts the richness and sweetness somewhat. Of course, you are making it yourself, so you can mess around with the sugar until it suits you.

May

Totally More-ish: The New and Improved Foodblog

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