Chestnut Cream

A simple chestnut purée folded into custard and served in glasses. The original assumes you already have soft custard on hand, which is where most of the work lies.

• Soft custardThis means a stirred custard sauce — roughly 2 cups milk, 3–4 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar, cooked over low heat or a water bath until it coats a spoon, then cooled. It must not reach a simmer or it will scramble; pull it off at about 175–180F.
• Shelled chestnutsTwo cups shelled raw chestnuts is close to 1 lb in the shell. Vacuum-packed or jarred peeled chestnuts work and save a great deal of scoring and peeling; they need only a short simmer to soften.
• Boiling and puréeingSimmer 20–30 minutes until a chestnut crushes easily against the pan, then press through a sieve or food mill while still warm. Cold chestnuts turn pasty and refuse to go through. A food processor gives a coarser result than the sieve intended here.
• Frappé glassesSmall stemmed glasses of about 4–6 oz, the period's version of a sherbet or coupe glass. Any small dessert glass or ramekin does. As written, this fills four to six of them.
• ProportionsAdd the custard gradually to the chestnut purée until it is soft enough to spoon but still holds shape — the recipe gives no quantity, and how much you need depends on how dry your chestnuts cooked.
• The half cup of creamThat is the whipped cream topping, sweetened with a tablespoon of sugar and flavored with vanilla or a spoonful of sherry. Half a cup of cream whips to roughly a cup, enough to cap the glasses.
• ChillingNothing here sets, so it is served cold rather than firm. An hour in the refrigerator before topping with the cream improves both texture and flavor; the lemon sharpens noticeably as it sits.