Chestnut Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Steps:

• Bring chestnuts, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until milk is reduced by one-quarter and chestnuts smash fairly easily against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon, 15-17 minutes.
• Meanwhile, finely chop 4 oz. chocolate. Using a peeler, shave remaining 1 oz. chocolate; set aside until ready to serve.
• Purée chestnut mixture in a blender on high speed until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Add chopped chocolate and 1 tsp. brandy and blend on high speed until chocolate is melted, about 30 seconds. Scrape into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (if lumps form, stir vigorously until smooth), 15-20 minutes.
• Whip 2 cups cream with a whisk in another large bowl until it just barely holds soft peaks. Stir one-third of cream into chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in remaining cream just until incorporated. Transfer mousse to a large serving bowl, cover, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
• Whip remaining 1 cup cream and 1/2 tsp. brandy with whisk in a large bowl to medium peaks. Garnish mousse with reserved chocolate shavings and serve with whipped cream alongside.
• Do ahead
• Mousse can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill.

Steps:

• Over low heat, melt chocolate in heavy cream, stirring until smooth; let cool to room temperature. With an electric mixer whip the butter and sugar until light, then fold in the cooled chocolate, chestnut puree and rum. Mix until smooth and pack into prepared ramekins or custard cups. Cover and chill overnight.
• Pipe whipped cream rosettes in center if you wish.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl set over boiling water until chocolate is nearly completely melted, then remove from heat and whisk mixture until smooth.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with half the sugar (1/4 cup/50 grams) and the salt until pale and thick. Stir in the warm chocolate and set aside.
• Put egg whites in a clean bowl with cream of tartar and beat until fluffy, then add remaining 1/4 cup/50 grams sugar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry.
• Stir chestnut flour and chopped chestnuts into the chocolate batter, then fold in 1/4 of the whites to lighten mixture. Fold in remaining whites and scrape batter into an unbuttered 8-inch springform pan, smoothing top if necessary.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out almost clean. Cool on a rack. It may sink and crack a bit on top - this is fine. Run a knife around the edge of cake to free sides and remove form. Transfer to a serving platter. (Cake may be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.)
• To serve, whip cream with 2 tablespoons sugar to a very soft consistency. Spoon over top of cake and quickly spread with a spatula. Sprinkle with chocolate curls or cocoa powder.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C).
• Score the chestnuts in a cross with a knife.
• Place the chestnuts on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the chestnuts with a towel, and quickly peel the warm chestnuts.
• Put the peeled chestnuts in a pan and add water, sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Cook and stir the chestnut on high heat until the water has evaporated and chestnuts has softened, about 15 minutes.
• Place the chestnut filling in a food processor, add in water and blend until smooth.
• Push the chestnut filling through an sieve into another bowl.
• Transfer filling to a piping bag with a circle tip and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 200˚F (90˚C).
• In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy using a hand mixer.
• Add sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peak forms.
• Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a circle tip and pipe the meringue in a swirling motion onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake the meringue for 1 hour.
• Get the pie crust, and cut small circles to serve as the bottom for the meringue and bake for 30 minutes
• Place the meringue on top of the pie crust and pipe the whipped cream around it. Pipe the chestnut cream around the whipped cream.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Line one and a half muffin trays with 18 muffin cases. (We used deep, gold ones by Foilcraft, from cake-decorating shops.) Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Tip the chestnut purée into a large bowl and mash with a fork. Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric hand whisk until pale and frothy.
• Fold half the egg mixture into the chestnut mixture to lighten it, then fold in the almonds and baking powder. Gently fold in the rest of the egg, then drop the batter into the muffin cases. Bake for 25-30 mins until firm. Cool. You can freeze the cupcakes for up to 6 weeks.
• To make the chocolate topping, gently melt the chocolate, butter and cream together in a small pan. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool. Beat well to thicken the mixture then swirl generously onto the cupcakes and pile with chocolate curls. They will keep in the fridge for 4 days. Dust half with icing sugar and the other with cocoa before serving.

Steps:

• Mix milk, cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Add chestnuts; cook until chestnuts soften and milk has reduced by a little more than half, about 10 minutes.
• Carefully pour milk mixture into a blender. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; blend until smooth. Add extra milk, a few tablespoons at a time, if mixture isn't blending well. Avoid adding too much milk as the spread should be thick.
• Add honey and continue to blend until smooth. Transfer to small jars and let cool. Serve immediately or seal jars and store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grease a 25cm springform tin, then line the base and sides with baking paper. Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and thick.
• Sift the flour and cocoa together onto the mixture, then gently fold in, followed by the butter. Pour into the tin, ease to the edges, then bake for 8-10 mins until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin.
• Meanwhile, beat the chestnut purée and egg yolks until as smooth as possible. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water with half the cream. Remove from the heat, then beat into the chestnut mixture.
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, whip the remaining cream until it holds its shape. Fold into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the egg whites. Drizzle the brandy, if using, over the sponge base, then pour the chocolate mix on top. Level the surface and chill for 5 hrs or overnight until firm. Chill for 2 days, or freeze for 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
• To serve, carefully remove from the tin, strip off the paper and slide onto a cake stand. Dust heavily with cocoa.

Steps:

• Put the chestnuts in the food processor with the sugar, then process until fairly smooth. Put the butter and chocolate in a pan with the milk, then gently heat, stirring, until they have melted to a smooth sauce. Stir in the vanilla and cognac. Add to the chestnut mix in the food processor, then whizz again until fairly smooth.
• Line a lightly buttered small loaf tin with cling film, then pour in the chestnut truffle mix. Smooth the top, then cover the tin with cling film. Chill for 24 hrs.
• To serve, turn the truffle cake out onto a flat plate or board. Peel off the cling film. Gently melt the chocolate, butter and cream for the topping, then spread over the top and sides of the cake. Return to the fridge to set. Will keep in the fridge for another 6 days. Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar. Serve cut into thin slices with a little single cream poured around (cold vanilla custard is also very good).