Crème de Marrons is a French sweetened chestnut spread that tastes almost like a toffee. It is an absolute staple in French households. Marrons in French means chestnuts. It is made by blending cooked chestnuts with sugar, vanilla and salt till smooth and paste like. You can use them as spread for toast, crepes, or in deserts like Mont Blanc.
Crème de Marrons Recipe
If you know me, you know I can never resist bringing home interesting ingredients from my travels. Whenever I come across something unique, I love experimenting with it and seeing how many different dishes I can create.
Chestnuts were one such find from our recent trip to China. I picked up a good amount and tucked them away in my freezer, knowing I'd eventually put them to good use.
That day has finally arrived! The first thing I wanted to make was the classic French chestnut spread, Crème de Marrons. Now that I have a jar sitting in my fridge, my mind is already racing with all the desserts I can make using it.
About Crème de Marrons
But first what are chestnuts. If this is new to some of you, chestnuts are edible nuts which is usually cooked or roasted on fire. Once cooked, it tastes similar to Indian jackfruit seeds.
Even though some people find chestnuts floury, dry and potato like taste. We absolutely love it, specially my husband and we have enjoyed many during our trips. Freshly roasted chestnuts are our favourite.
Crème de Marrons is a classic French sweet spread made by cooking chestnuts with sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. It is one of most popular ingredient in the French cuisine. It comes in small cans or even in squeezable toothpaste like tubes.
In France, chestnuts are often used in desserts. Once they are boiled or roasted. It is cooked down with sugar, vanilla and salt. This cooked chestnuts, then turned into a paste which is widely used in so many desserts including the popular Mont Blanc.
It doesn't have any dairy products like milk or cream added but still it turns out super creamy.
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Is Chestnut Puree same as Chestnut spread?
Don't confuse Crème de Marrons with chestnut purée. Although both are made from cooked chestnuts, they are quite different. Chestnut purée is unsweetened making it ideal for savoury dishes such as soups, stuffings, and pasta.
Crème de Marrons, on the other hand, is sweetened with sugar and flavoured with vanilla, used as a spread or used in cakes, pastries, crêpes, ice creams, and other sweet treats.
It is a kind of ingredient, which people often open the can and eat directly from it. You can enjoy it with yoghurt or fromage frais, or with vanilla ice-cream. My favourite is with crème fraîche or very cold crème fleurette.
Fresh Chestnuts or Pre Cooked
Even though buying it is easy and affordable, There is a joy of making it from scratch in your kitchen. If you are using pre cooked chestnut, the work is half done for you already. If not, you have to boil the chestnuts for 45 minutes to an hour until soft. Peel it and cook them in the syrup.
The syrup is very basic. It is just brown sugar and water. I add vanilla and salt at the time of blending to preserve the flavour. One important tip that I can provide you is to use a high power blender to make extra creamy chestnut spread. If not it is not going to get that creamy.
Once blended, you can transfer to an air tight jar and store in fridge for upto a month. Now that I have made a jar of my homemade chestnut spread, I am planning to make few desserts like chestnut latte, Mont Blanc Or a thick creamy chestnut milkshake.
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Ingredients
- Chestnuts - If you can find cooked chestnuts, you can directly add them into the sugar. Raw chestnuts needs to be cooked first.
- Sugar - I used brown sugar which adds to the caramel like flavour. But regular granulated sugar can be added as well.
- Vanilla - pure vanilla adds a hint of floral aroma to the spread.
- Fleur de Sel - a pinch of salt always enhances sweet dishes.
- Water - Water helps cooking the chestnuts and also helps with blending.
Step by Step Pictures
Cooking Chestnuts
1)If you have pre cooked vacuum sealed chestnuts, you can straight away use it in the recipe without cooking it. If you have raw chestnuts, score the chestnuts and add them to a pot. Cover with water and cook covered for 30 to 40 minutes.
2)Now strain the water and allow them to cool for a while. Now peel off the skin and use the cooked chestnuts in the recipe.
3)Take brown sugar and water in a pot. Bring it to a full boil.
4)Add in the cooked chestnuts into the sugar syrup.
5)Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Now turn off the heat and allow them to cool down.
6)The chestnuts is coated with the syrup and the syrup would have thickened slightly.
7)Chestnuts has a sugar coated on it.
8)Now take all the syrup and the cooked chestnuts in a blender jar. Add salt, I am using fleur de sel.
9)Add in vanilla extract.
10)Blend this till it forms into a smooth paste. You may need to scrape the blender few times for uniform blending.
11)Once the chestnuts blended till smooth, transfer this to an air tight container and store in fridge.
Expert Tips
- Using pre cooked chestnuts is easy and quick.
- You can add more sugar depending on your preference.
- Make sure to use powerful blender to puree the chestnuts. Food processor doesn't blend the spread creamy.
Storage and Serving
Homemade Crème de Marrons can be stored in fridge upto a month. You can freeze them for 3 to 4 months. This chestnut spread can be used as a spread for toast, add to oatmeal, turn into latte, milkshakes, ice cream and many desserts.
FAQ
Q: Can I use regular sugar instead of brown sugar?
Yes, you can use regular sugar instead of brown sugar. But don't add more sugar which hides the real chestnut taste.
Q: What is chestnut called in French?
Sweet Chestnuts are also known as marrons in French.
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Crème de Marrons Recipe (Sweet Chestnut Spread Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 grams Cooked Chestnuts or vacuum-packed chestnuts
- 150 grams Brown Sugar
- 1½ cup Water
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Fleur de Sel (Salt)
Instructions
- If you have pre cooked vacuum sealed chestnuts, you can straight away use it in the recipe without cooking it. If you have raw chestnuts, score the chestnuts and add them to a pot. Cover with water and cook covered for 30 to 40 minutes. Now strain the water and allow them to cool for a while. Now peel off the skin and use the cooked chestnuts in the recipe.
- Take brown sugar and water in a pot. Bring it to a full boil. Add in the cooked chestnuts into the sugar syrup and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Now turn off the heat and allow them to cool down.
- Now take all the syrup and the cooked chestnuts in a blender jar. Add in vanilla extract and fleur de sel. Blend this till it forms into a smooth paste. You may need to scrape the blender few times for uniform blending.
- Once the chestnuts blended till smooth, transfer this to an air tight container and store in fridge.
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