Earthy and sweet homemade chestnuts paste. Perfect for filling cookies and cakes.
In the UK, buying chestnuts or chestnuts puree is quite easy. They are accessible in majority of supermarkets and quite affordable. The problem starts when I want to buy chestnut paste.
How, weird is that??? Yep, I searched high and low and the only one I could find was online and it was quite pricy for a small tube. So, following my Mom’s advice I made my own and now I am sharing recipe for homemade chestnut paste. Since I have posted my recipe, it became my top 5 most popular recipes on my blog!
How to make homemade chestnuts paste
This recipe is dead easy and the best part is that it tastes great, no nasty ingredients that would make you glow in the dark or no sugar overload. Just chestnuts, milk and a little bit if sugar, which in fact you can add to your personal liking. I have tested this recipe 3 times and for me amount of sugar mentioned below is the optimal to bring the flavour of chestnuts out.
For this recipe I have used cooked and whole chestnuts. I have grinded them until I got smooth consistency. Then I have cooked chestnuts with milk, sugar and salt until the whole mixture thickened. This is it. You can adjust consistency by adding more milk if necessary. I make my chestnut paste quite thick as I use it to fill cookies and macarons.
How to use homemade chestnuts paste
So, this recipe for chestnut paste comes very handy especially during Christmas time as people in the UK love chestnuts. The most popular chestnut baking recipe is Yule log cake (Buche de Noel), I have not tried to make it, YET. But I will be for sure, probably with some twists – as always.
Apart from Buche de Noel, you can also use chestnut paste as a filling in cookies, macarons, cupcakes. Or incorporate it in a buttercream or frosting to use in cakes. During Christmas time we use it as a spread on a piece of toast and sprinkle some cinnamon on top. DELISH!
I want to point out as well that this homemade chestnuts paste freezes well so you can relish the elegant and sophisticated earthy flavour of chestnut flavour all year long.
If you are looking for more recipes with chestnuts, I can recommend you the following:
Chestnut shortbreads with chocolate whisky glaze
Click this link if you want to see all my recipes with chestnuts
I hope you will make my recipe and if you do, please leave a comment below and let me know your feedback. You can also find me on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Gab and Gettr. Please say hi and do not forget to tag me in if you make my recipe. I love seeing your creations.
Recipe source – my own
Enjoy!
Homemade chestnuts paste
Earthy and sweet chestnuts paste. Perfect for filling cookies and cakes.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Place chestnuts in a food processor and grind it until smooth.
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Place chestnuts in a medium pot, add milk, sugar and salt.
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Cook chestnuts on a medium heat and keep stirring from time to time.
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The mixture will start to thicken after about 8 minutes so now you should keep stirring it so it does not burn.
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Cook chestnut mixture for few more minutes until it becomes thick.
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Please notice that the mixture will thicken even more when it cools down.
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Transfer chestnut paste into a jar or an air-tight container and store it in the fridge up to a week.
User Reviews
I love everything chestnut and think chestnut paste is marvelous invention. I was so happy to find a recipe to make my own after buying some locally grown ones. I roasted them in the oven till soft and transferred them to the food processor to pulverize once they cooked. I was only able to grind them to a pretty-smooth sandy texture, which I think is fine. I wonder if I have a different type of chestnut from the once’s used in the recipe because mine are a very light golden sand color. Also, mine seemed to absorbed the milk almost immediately. I could only cook for about 5 min, and that was with adding about 1/4 c more milk and stirring constantly. The result is smooth and somewhere between a very thick pudding and a paste. And still very light-colored. It tastes good, though I would use less sugar next time, and let the chestnut sweetness shine.
Hi Amy
Thank you very much for your comment. I have not tried making this recipe with raw chestnuts yet, but will definitely do it when I am able to but raw chestnuts. The chestnuts I used in this recipe were cooked chestnuts, that were quite soft. I think that freshly roasted and grinded chestnuts have a different (sandy) consistency this is why more milk was needed. When it comes to colour, I think that it also depends on what chestnuts you are using and sugar as well. If you wish for the paste to be darker, you can try and add dark brown sugar instead and add the amount to suit your preference. I am very happy that you made and enjoyed my recipe and I am grateful for your feedback. Have a great day. Anna K x