Sweetening Chestnut Puree

Our answer

Nigella's Chestnut Chocolate Pots (from Nigella Christmas and on the Nigella website) use a sweetened chestnut puree which is sometimes labelled as creme de marrons or chestnut cream. It is sweetened with some form of sugar and usually has vanilla added. If you have bought the unsweetened form then you should not use the puree in the recipe, but you can sweeten it first and then use it.

To sweeten the puree, put it in a bowl and beat in icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) until combined. Commercial products can have up to 50% of the weight as sugar but we would suggest starting with 100g (1 cup) icing sugar to 300g (1 1/4 cups) puree and then beating in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Taste the mixture and beat in extra sugar if you feel that the puree isn't sweet enough. You will need to weigh/measure out the appropriate amount of puree once you have added the sugar. Leftover sweetened puree can be frozen to be used later, or stirred into plain yogurt for a dessert or breakfast treat.