a christmas chestnut cream dessert

Yesterday afternoon,  my daughter Nina came home from school with her friend Laure-Anne.   After they came through the kitchen and said hello to me,   their conversation went a little like this

L-A:  "Nina, why does your mother cook with a camera in her hand?",
N: "Oh don't pay any attention, she's just a blogger!"

This, my friends, is an unavoidable fact  of my daily life and a sure sign of a busy blogger, the camera rarely leaves my side!

So yes, I made the Chestnut creams and yes, I took some pictures and yes it was time consuming but that didn't stop it being fun!

Seriously though, these desserts are a wonderful idea for the holidays.  They can be done days or even weeks in advance, they look good and taste better.

Here is how I make them, using a recipe from the cook book queen Delia Smith.  Here first of all is how her perfect versions turn out,

and here are mine.

Not perfect I know, but home made has its own charms don't you think?

To make eight small or six medium sized chestnut cream puddings you will need

3 oz (75g) good quality dark cooking chocolate

2 tablespoons rum

2 eggs

a 17oz (500g)  tin of chestnut purée (I'll tell you later where you can find that)

5 fl oz (150ml)whipping cream

10 fl oz (275ml) single cream 

2 oz (50 g) white chocolate

You will make the puddings in layers and freeze each layer as you go.  To serve the puddings are turned upside down, so the first layer into the mould becomes the top of the pudding, but I probably didn't need to tell you that!

Queen Delia (and no, I am not mocking, I love her recipes!)  recommends  using small tin moulds;  I do not possess those, so I use my regular ramequins which are slightly larger than ideal

To make the top chocolate layer, melt 75 g dark chocolate and 2 tablespoons of rum in a bain marie.  Careful not to let this overheat because the chocolate will go grainy and be spoilt.  When the mixture is perfectly melted and smooth, let it cool a little then add 2 egg yolks.    Beat one of the egg whites until firm and white, then gently fold it into the chocolate mix and spoon a little into the base of each mould.  Pop your moulds into the deep freeze.

At this point I digress from Delia's recommendations.  "Is this woman mad?!"  I can hear you cry, "how could she dare?!".  Mais que veux tu? I'm just naturally reckless....  Delia likes to finish her creams off with tiny chunks of candied chestnut.  I find it fun to create dark chocolate shapes/letters for mine.  If you want to do like me, this is a good moment to melt the chocolate gently and draw pretty shapes onto waxed paper. If also like me, some an alarming number of your shapes  go wrong, it's good to melt enough chocolate to make extra. Once you feel artistically satisfied,  put them into the fridge for several hours to harden.

After a little pause during which you can cook the kids' supper, do a little light gardening, or just have a drink, the time comes to make the next layer.

Couldn't be easier.   Put half of your pot of chestnut cream into a bowl and stir to soften, then whip the cream until slightly thick, mix with the chestnut cream.  Finally beat the remaining egg white until stiff and fold into the chestnut mixture.  Spoon carefully into the moulds, being sure to get the same amount in each.  We're nearly done ....


There's just time to have another drink and visit a few of your favourite blogs, before putting on the final layer, this is simply the chestnut puree, without anything added.  Thick enough to give a third stripe of contrasting colour when the creams are turned out.

The creams can now be left in your freezer until you are ready to bring them to your table.  If they are to wait longer than overnight, it's a good idea to cover them with clingfilm.

When the grand day arrives, you simply need to melt the white chocolate in the warmed single cream to provide the chocolate sauce, then decide how to serve them.  The most practical way is to present them on individual plates and place before each guest, but if you want some extra fun you could always group them on serving plates and spell out a seasonal message.

And finally, for those of you who have difficulty finding the tins of French chestnut cream, I would recommend popping over to Vicki Archer's new shop and browsing her Sweet Tooth shelves.  I've heard she has stocked up for Christmas!!