MARRON GLACE

The first time I had marron glace (candied chestnuts in french) was as a spread in a crepe in Paris. I was hooked, it was my favourite thing. Whenever I got waffles or crepes, I would get it with marron spread on it.
Then I started seeing candied chestnuts around at Christmas time. I wanted to buy them, but they are crazy expensive, $41.95 for 8! That’s when I looked into how to make them. It’s easy, and with only a few ingredients. It does take a few days to make though. However, the end result was totally worth it and I made a lot of them for less the $40.

MARRON GLACE
Ingredients
- 400 grams Chestnuts
- 2 cups Organic sugar
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla beans
- 1/8 tsp Salt
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring the water, sugar,vanilla beans and vanilla to a boil stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
- Bring the sugar syrup to a boil and add the chestnuts. Stir until the whole mixture returns to a boil.
- Bring down to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes, frequently stirring so they don’t burn.
- Take off the heat and leave on your stove top. Let cool then cover and allow the chestnuts to soak in the syrup for 24 hours.
- This time boil them for 5 minutes and then take of the heat, let cool, and cover 24 hours.
- Repeat the entire process a total of 3 to 4 times, until the sugar syrup has been absorbed by the chestnuts.
- Once the chestnuts have absorbed the syrup, it's time to bake them.
- Preheat an oven to 250°F.
- Arrange the candied chestnuts on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet into the oven and turn off the heat. Allow the chestnuts to dry in the oven for 1 hour until they have firmed up and the surfaces of the nuts are dry.
- Store the marron glace in an airtight container or if making for gifts, put into paper cases and box, or wrap in cellophane.