Marrons Glaces

Ingredients

• chestnuts
• plain syrup
• sieve
• oven

Method

1. 1

   Remove the outer skin of the chestnuts, blanch them in boiling water until tender, then remove the inner skin.

2. 2

   Drop them into warm acidulated water.

3. 3

   Prepare a plain syrup and simmer the nuts in it until tender and the syrup thickens.

4. 4

   Bottle and cork them.

5. 5

   For use, drain the nuts, boil syrup to 'the crack', dip the chestnuts in it, and dry in the oven on trays.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves (1902) by S. Beaty-Pownall, page 17. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

plain syrup as before, and when this is ready, drain the nuts, put them into it, and allow it all to simmer very gently together till they are tender, and the syrup is quite thick ; they are then bottled, corked down, and stored as usual. If wanted for use, drain them on a sieve, boil some syrup to “ the crack,” and just before it is perfectly cold, work it against the sides of the pan with a wooden spoon till it whitens, dip the chestnuts into this singly with a skewer, and dry in the oven on trays. As marrons glaces do not keep well, it is more thrifty to store them in the syrup, and finish them off: as above, just as they are needed for use. D CHAPTER IV. „ \ JAMS, JELLIES AND PASTES. Like many other dainties which aforetime were always home made, jam has now come to he far more often bought than prepared from one’s own fruit in one’s own kitchen. Still, it must be admitted that connoisseurs regret the old fashion, which, they said, ensured far greater flavour than is now obtainable in any save the very highest (and, con- sequently, most expensive) class of bought goods. How far this increased flavour is worth the trouble it entails in towns is open to question, though more than one London housekeeper we wot of prides her- self on her cupboard of really home-made preserves. However, the trouble of procuring fruit in proper condition, a cook who really understands the woi'k, &c., is in most cases prohibitory to the town mouse. The same remarks, however, certainly do not apply to the country housekeeper, who has the fruit in her garden for the gathering ; a range which may be utilised at certain times of the day when it is not required for other cooking and yet must be kept in ; leisure for the manufacture, and room to store it when made; so that the whole expense lies in the jars and the sugar, both cheap enough in these days, even when JAMS, JELLIES, AND PASTES. 35 housewifery and patriotism combined make us insist on pure cane sugar from our own colonies, and give us the determination necessary to ensure our getting the class of sugar we ask for ! Where jam and preserve-making is a regular part of the housekeeping, a small outfit should be kept strictly for this purpose and none other. It need be neither costly nor extensive. A copper or bell-metal preserving pan (or, failing this, an enamelled one ; but these, though cheaper to begin with, are not really so economical, as they are so apt to burn and chip, and in either case are then unfit for delicate jam-making), a couple of fine hair sieve

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.