Chestnut cream

Crème de marrons

What it is

Clément Faugier set up in Privas in 1882 to candy chestnuts and, as the house tells it, was left with a mountain of broken marrons glacés; in 1885 he sweetened and vanilla-scented the debris and sold it as crème de marrons. The by-product outlived the luxury it came from: the tube is a French pantry fixture, and candied chestnuts are a fraction of the trade.

In the kitchen

It is already close to half sugar, so treat it as a sweetener and not a purée — folded one to one into whipped cream it is a Mont-Blanc mix that needs nothing added. Loosen it with rum, cream or crème fraîche; water thins it without carrying the flavour and it separates on standing.

Goes with

Cream Dark chocolate Vanilla Dark rum Crème fraîche Coffee

Same species

Chestnut Chestnut flour Chestnut honey Japanese chestnut

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