Castagne Candite (Marrons glaces)

Source: The Great Italian Cookbook (1987).  Compiled by the Italian Academy of Cookery.  New York: International Culinary Society.  ISBN: 0-517-63553-4

• sweet chestnuts

• sugar

• water

To make your efforts worthwhile when you undertake the fairly difficult and fiddly process of candying chestnuts you must use only the largest, soundest sweet chestnuts.  A lot of wastage is inevitable, so allow plenty to spare.  Remove the hard, brown outer casing and add to the chestnuts in a large saucepan of hot water; cook to just below boiling point (this is important) until a small skewer or needle penetrates easily.

Remove from the heat and remove only one chestnut at a time to peel off the thin inner skin very carefully.   This operation becomes much more difficult when the chestnuts cool.  Do not get discouraged when quite a few of the chestnuts break up as you peel them.  Place in a shallow flameproof dish in a single layer when peeled.  Boil equal quantities of water and sugar, skimming off any foam to keep the syrup clear, for about 10 minutes, taking care that the syrup does not reach 230 degrees F; check this with a candy thermometer if you have one.  Remove from the heat immediately so that it does not reach thread stage.

Pour the boiling syrup evenly all over the chestnuts and leave to stand.  The following day tip up the dish containing the chestnuts to drain off all the syrup into a saucepan and cook until it reaches thread stage (230-234 degrees F); pour the hot syrup all over the chestnuts once more and leave to stand for another 24 hours.  On the third day drain the syrup into the saucepan once more and add a little vanilla extract as well as a few drops of liquid glucose or honey (both prevent crystallization).  Cook until the syrup reaches soft ball stage (234-240 degrees F).  Repeat the pouring process, coating all the chestnuts and leave to stand until the next day.  Transfer very carefully to a wide-necked jar together with the remaining syrup.  Seal the jar.  This is the best way to preserve chestnuts for a considerable length of time.

The alternative "dry" method is for short-term preserving; confectioners use special pans with racks on which the chestnuts are placed and which can be raised (for draining) and lowered for another immersion in the syrup.  Once the chestnuts have drained completely the syrup is thickened one stage further and the rack with the chestnuts lowered once more to complete another stage of the "glazing" process.  Although many cookery books favor this method (using a fork to remove the chestnuts for each draining), more chestnuts will be broken this way, making a tricky operation even more hazardous.  As a compromise, drain off the syrup after completing the whole of the first process given above and cook it until it reaches soft ball stage (234-240 degrees F), then add the chestnuts and heat through (do not allow to boil).  A skin will form on top, which should be removed; as you run your spatula round the sides of the pan the sugar will start to whiten.  Remove the chestnuts very gently with a slotted spoon and leave them to drain, well-spaced out, on a rack.  Do not touch until they have completely drained and are cold.  Place in an airtight tin lined with wax paper, separating the layers with more wax paper.