If you like chestnuts, try this easy and elegant dessert in a glass with a delicate flavor. We can offer it at a Sunday lunch, on special occasions, or as a dessert for a buffet. This recipe contains no gluten or eggs; furthermore, if the chestnuts are very sweet, it may not be necessary to sweeten it.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 5
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup milk
- 10.5 oz peeled chestnuts
- 3.2 oz cream cheese (also lactose-free)
- to taste orange zest
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla paste
- 1 tsp liqueur (to taste)
- to taste unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup whipping cream (also lactose-free)
- 1/4 tsp coarse salt (For boiled chestnuts)
- 2 leaves bay leaf
Steps
Peel the chestnuts, removing the outer shell. Try to choose chestnuts of the same size for even cooking.
Transfer them to a pot, cover them with water, add a couple of bay leaves, a pinch of coarse salt, and wait for the water to boil.
From the first boil, count 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, on medium heat, on the smallest burner.
The cooking times refer to medium-small chestnuts. The larger they are, the longer they need to cook.
Check the softness of the chestnuts from time to time and remove those that are already soft from the cooking water; they should not crumble.
Let them cool for half an hour in the cooking water, then you can also remove the skin still attached to the fruit.
Set aside about ten chestnuts; we will use them crumbled inside the dessert in the glass.
Mash the peeled chestnuts with a fork, then transfer them to a blender with the cheese, finely grated orange zest, vanilla, cream cheese, and milk.
Blend the ingredients until creamy and smooth.
If the cream is still too thick, you can add a little milk at a time until you achieve the desired creaminess.
Taste and sweeten if necessary.
Add the liqueur and mix (you can use Strega or a vanilla or orange liqueur).
Choose the cups or glasses for the dessert.
Place a layer of unsweetened cocoa at the bottom of the glass, then some crumbled chestnut, a spoonful of chestnut cream, another layer of cocoa, crumbled chestnut, and another spoonful of cream; finally, decorate with a dollop of whipped cream. If you use lactose-free fresh cream, it won’t be necessary to sweeten it.
All that’s left is to dig in with a spoon.
Bon appetit
