How to make sweet chestnut cream or chestnut puree
Chestnut cream was one of my grandmother's favorite desserts. I've always associated a lot with French cuisine, but luckily, you do not have to go there to get it. The recipe for chestnut cream is very easy to prepare, wherever you are.
By the way, as I think it will be clear, this recipe is to prepare a dessert, that is, a sweet chestnut cream or chestnut puree. Do not get confused and think that it is a creamy chestnut soup.
Easy chestnut cream preparation
In countries with marked seasons, recipes with chestnuts are usually They begin to prepare with the arrival of autumn.
In the case of chestnut cream, it often replaces jams for breakfast, serves as a dessert, or is used as a base for other preparations, like sauces, which preserve a sweet base.
This cream is particularly good when served with yogurt or when used to fill or cover cakes.
Chestnut cream recipe easy
Easy recipe to prepare, step by step, a sweet and creamy chestnut cream, to suck your fingers .Before cooking them, we will make a cut at the top, with a circular shape, like the one made to prepare them for roasting.
Then we will need to get a good saucepan, with enough size for all the chestnuts. We will place them inside and cover them with water.
Then we will take the pan to the fire and we will let it cook for 10 minutes. We will count this time from when the water starts to boil.
After this time , we will extinguish the fire and we will strain the fruits. Once drained, we will peel them, taking care not to burn ourselves, obviously. Do not send the pot to where your other dirty dishes are. You're going to need it again.
I was telling you about the pan because once we have finished peeling all the chestnuts, we are going to put it back to the fire and we will cook the fruits again. We will cover them with new water and this time, we will cook them for 10 more minutes, as soon as they start to boil. We cook the chestnuts twice to take them first to the most convenient point to peel them and then, to take them to the point where they soften enough to make a cream or puree.
When the cooking time is over, we will strain the fruits again and pass them to a food processor. There we will process them to obtain a paste. We must ensure that this paste has the finest texture possible. You also have to do this with hot chestnuts, for better results.
We will reserve the chestnut paste for a moment, to take care of the rest of the ingredients. We can rinse the pot to reuse it and heat the milk, vanilla and sugar. We will make the mixture while heating over high heat, but stirring constantly, to make sure that the milk does not burn or stick to the bottom.
Cook for five minutes and then reduce the intensity of the fire and add the chestnut puree. Make sure you take advantage of the last leftovers, which do not remain in the robot.
Continue stirring the cream frequently, with the help of a wooden spoon. Let it cook for 15 more minutes, repeating the operation constantly.
The cream of chestnuts should thicken and take a creamy and dense consistency. After the indicated cooking time, it will be ready to be served, if you like it hot. If not, you can wait for it to cool to store it in a covered container in the refrigerator, and consume it within a maximum of a few days.
Tips for preparing chestnut cream or puree
- If you can get a vanilla pod, the result of the recipe will be much better than with the extract of this ingredient. To use the pod, open it and add its content to the preparation. Of course, you will no longer have to use vanilla extract or essence.
- It is possible to buy the cooked chestnuts, under vacuum, which can save you some time in preparation.Then, you can return the cream to your pot.
- You have to wait for the chestnut cream to cool, before refrigerating it. Do not pass it to the refrigerator if it is still hot, because this recipe contains milk and drastic changes in temperature can affect the quality of the result.
- Optionally, if you like the taste of cinnamon, you can incorporate a branch to the milk at the time of cooking. Remove it when serving the cream.
- If you do not have a good kitchen robot at home or a powerful blender, you can crush the chestnuts manually, using a masher.
- Take into account that the chestnuts should be free of their two covers: the outer skin and the inner skin.
- There are those who incorporate other fruits into the preparation of this dessert, such as apples or quince. I prefer to keep only the taste of the chestnut.
- There are also those who add a pinch of salt to the preparation, to balance the taste.
- Keep in mind that you can also prepare a cream of vegan chestnuts, using water instead of milk. This style of preparation will also have fewer calories.
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