Chestnut ice cream

Chestnuts are one of my favorite things.  I've loved it since I was a child so desserts involving chestnuts always have my attention.  I guess it was just luck that I was looking through A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorisson and spied her recipe for chestnut ice cream.  

Creamy chestnut ice cream, garnished with a few chopped roasted chestnuts

Looks like Ms. Thorisson and I share a mutual love of chestnut cream and chestnut desserts.  I am thankful for that because now I have this wonderful ice cream to add to my repertoire - especially since chestnut ice cream isn't exactly easy to find.  In fact, I can only remember scoring chestnut gelato once while traveling.

This chestnut ice cream is chock full of chestnut flavor and really easy to make - the "secret" or express route to all the chestnut flavor is using chestnut cream (or crème de marrons), which is a sweetened chestnut spread.

Chestnut cream and vanilla bean to flavor the custard base

Adding a generous amount of the chestnut cream to the custard base makes for deep sweet chestnut flavor and a beautiful creaminess to the ice cream.  Its texture and full-flavor does makes me think gelato and I suppose the lines are blurred when making ice cream at home.  I think I can just assure you that this will be a hit with any chestnut lovers. 

The great thing about this ice cream is it's obviously great for the warm, summer months but it'd also be good for the Fall (maybe even as an unexpected dessert after Thanksgiving) when we tend to think of and see chestnuts here in the States. 

I garnished the ice cream with a few chopped chestnuts - just the packaged kind I buy and snack on all the time.  It's not absolutely necessary since you'll clearly taste the chestnut flavor in the ice cream itself.  It's like eating marron glace, or candied chestnut, in ice cream form.  

I once had a very memorable gelato combination of chocolate, chestnut, and gianduja while vacationing in Quebec, Canada.  That's just about my ideal pairing. Now, I just need to work on the gianduja, or chocolate-hazelnut, flavor and I'd actually be able to recreate that trifecta at home. Although admittedly, making 3 ice cream flavors at once is an aggressive (unrealistic) project, it's good to know I could make it happen...

The ice cream base is made with an equal mix (1 cup each) of heavy cream and whole milk, along with 3 egg yolks and half a vanilla bean for extra flavor.  There is just 1/4 cup of sugar in the recipe because the 12 ounces, or 1 1/3 cups, of chestnut cream adds a lot of sweetness.

One the custard base is prepared, you let it cool before stirring in the chestnut cream. It turns into this beautifully light chestnut-brown concoction that I chill overnight before churning.

I find that while you want to enjoy your homemade ice cream as soon as possible, it's good to give it an overnight "rest" in the freezer before eating.  Somehow, it seems like the flavor gets a chance to develop so that is tastes less like cream and more intensely of the flavor you made.

In this case, the result is creamy ice cream that's packed with sweet chestnut flavor. If chestnut cream was more readily available, and less expensive, I'd be making this very often!  In the meantime, it feels like a very special treat.  I savored it.  It's one of those ice creams where a small scoop feels very satisfying to me.

For more chestnut love, here are some other recipes:

• Chestnut bouchons
• Chocolate-chestnut torte
• Financiers filled with chestnut cream
• Brown-butter cake with chestnut cream filling
• Chocolate-chestnut thumbprints
• Crepes with chestnut cream
• Chestnut soup

Recipe:

Chestnut Ice Cream
From A Kitchen in France by Mimi Thorisson

- Makes approximately 1 quart - 

1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
12 ounces (320g, about 1 1/3 cups) sweetened vanilla chestnut cream

Place cream and milk in a medium saucepan.  Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and add seeds and the pod to the pan.  Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a low boil.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until smooth and light in color.

Take saucepan off the heat and, whisking constantly, pour about one-third of the hot liquid into the egg mixture.  Pour/scrape the yolk mixture into the saucepan, return it to the heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until custard thickens slightly, 5-8 minutes; do not boil.  Strain the mixture into a large bowl; discard the vanilla bean. Let cool.

Mix the chestnut cream into the cooled custard.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, preferably overnight.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours (I prefer overnight) before serving.