Candied Chestnuts | Redwall
“You name them, we’ve got them. Even candied chestnuts and acorn crunch. We could feed the district for a year.”
-Redwall, Brian Jacques
Chestnuts in Perth are quite the novelty. Unlike in other countries where you can at least buy them canned, you have to wait till autumn comes around, and a small basket of chestnuts shows up in the grocery store. Having made this recipe out of season, I was lucky to have found a can of chestnuts in Waitress or Sainsburys in the UK on my last visit. I’m so glad I brought it back. If you’re in the US, you can buy canned chestnuts in water on Amazon here.
And if you don’t want to make these, but want them for a Redwall party, (they are, after all, a favourite treat of both Warbeak and the Sparra King), you can buy candied chestnuts already made here from Amazon.
Candied chestnuts are also known as marron glace (maH-ron glass-ay), but the marron glace recipe takes several days to make. So we’re going to go for a speedy version.
Candied Chestnuts | Redwall
Ingredients
- 250 g white sugar
- 125 ml water
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 250 g white sugar
- 75 ml water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, mix together 250g sugar and 125ml water.
- Stir over low heat until dissolved.
- Add in ½ tsp vanilla essence.
- Bring to a boil then add the chestnuts.
- Let that cook for 15-30 minutes until they’re tender.
- In another saucepan, stir together another 250g of sugar and 75ml of water.
- Let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove the chestnuts onto a wire baking tray, with a baking paper lined tray underneath, to let cool.
- Add the sugar mixtures together and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
- Place a chestnut on a skewer, dip into the sugar mixture, remove and place back onto the wire baking tray with a baking paper lined tray underneath.
- Continue until all the chestnuts have been dipped.
- Let cool then serve.
- If storing, make sure you wrap them in baking paper as they can easily stick together.
Notes
http://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/candied-chestnuts
Love your website! How many chestnuts would you say are needed for this particular recipe? Thanks~!
Hi Patti,
I think there were about 30-40 chestnuts in the can.