This is a no-bake dessert devised by Françoise Bernard, the Goddess of French cooking in the sixties and seventies. My mother who was a die-hard francophile always had her books in the kitchen especially when the family moved to France. Françoise Bernard specialized in easy, practical, recipes for the busy housewive or working woman; her recipes would give price range, time, difficulty level, etc. Her books are still reprinted now and cover everything under the sun that a French person might wish to prepare at home.
For this dessert, you simply mix chestnuts with chocolate, butter and a bit of sugar and serve.
It is a dense dessert, not too sweet (you can increase the sugar, of course) put together in mere minutes. I played a little with some white chocolate I had laying around, melting it in the microwave, mixing it with some neon food colors and spreading it on pieces of parchment paper; I used cookie cutters and made the little hearts.
INGREDIENTS: 4 servings
- 1 can of chestnuts (285 g. or 10 oz) or chestnut cream
- 1/2 bar of Lindt 70% chocolate (50 g.) or semi-sweet choc.chips or more up to 75 g. (3/4 of a 3 oz. bar)
- 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
- 2 oz. of unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp of vanilla
- 1 Tbsp of rum (optional)
- Whole walnuts, to garnish (optional)
- Whipped cream to garnish (optional)
Place the chestnuts in the bowl of a food processor and purée them till smooth. Place the chocolate, broken up in chunks and the butter in a saucepan over very low heat; melt the butter and chocolate, stirring from time to time. Add the sugar, vanilla and rum and stir to combine. Transfer the butter and sugar mixture to the bowl of chestnuts and purée to combine well.
Pour into plastic-lined (or oiled) ramequins and refrigerate till firm. Unmold and serve. Can be frozen.
A last-minute idea was to scoop it out like ice-cream and make a quick caramel. To make caramel, all you need is some sugar and a bit of whipping cream. Place 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a skillet over medium-low heat; eventually, the sugar will dissolve and turn golden, then darker; immediately, pour the cream (very carefully) and stir. It takes a couple of minutes and you’ve got your caramel ready to be poured. If you want, make it in advance and reheat it very gently for a minute or two. Caramel and chestnut and chocolate are a match made in heaven.
Happy Valentine!!!
15 Comments
A divine dessert! Perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Cheers,
Rosa
That’s it?? I am SO trying this! It’s brilliant! Who is that cutie??
@Belinda: A man in the street during a Kurdish event.
Trés jolie! And I love chestnuts!
What a delightful dessert and it sounds easy to make! I love your white chocolate-dyed hearts
I love the idea of adding caramel too – great combination.
Simple yet decadent. Yum
Goodness, this looks delicious! Just my kind of dessert, I’m a sucker for chestnuts and chocolate! I’m definitely making this!
The lusciousness is just mind blowing Joumana! What wonderful creaminess and texture. Beautiful pictures too. Such a perfect V-Day treat!
chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
what a lovely dessert! i love chestnuts and the texture looks marvelous.
Mm love this combination of chestnuts and chocolate!
This looks like such a fun dessert for Valentine’s Day! The caramel sauce sounds fantastic with it. And, I love white chocolate. The hearts are a perfect garnish.
Un superbe dessert pour tout les Valentins du monde…une pure gourmandise…bisous et douce soirée
In my book, caramel and ANYTHING is a match made in heaven. Love the simplicity of this dessert, and so pretty too!
My mother used to make something like that in the 70s! It always had a layer of whipped cream around the outside, and flaked toasted almonds decorating it. Such delicious flavours.
So tasty and simply to prepare! I made it and garnish with ice-cream. Thanks for idea.