CookEat Recipe
Chestnut Fritters
Whole sweet chestnuts poached in rum-vanilla syrup, coated in an airy fritter batter and fried, then served over their reduced syrup with icing sugar.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Choose thirty large fresh whole edible sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa). Heat a conventional oven to 400°F. Slit both sides of each shell, place the chestnuts on a roasting pan and roast for about 20 minutes, until the shells can be removed.
Step 2
Remove the pan and, as soon as the nuts can be handled safely, use a clean coarse towel to help remove the hard shells and thin brown skins; use a small knife where needed. Keep all the recovered edible kernels.
Step 3
Put four ounces of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of ready culinary pure vanilla extract, one tablespoon of rum and one pint of cold water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, add the chestnut kernels and boil for about 30 minutes, until the kernels are actually tender.
Step 4
Cool the chestnuts promptly in their syrup in a shallow food-safe container. Refrigerate at 4°C or colder within two hours, without leaving them at room temperature to finish cooling. Once cold, lift out the chestnuts with a skimmer and drain them thoroughly. Return the same syrup to a saucepan and boil it for about 15 minutes.
Step 5
Have the linked fritter batter ready, with its retained whites freshly foamed and folded in just before use. Use only the actual raw batter needed to coat the chestnuts. Heat refined canola oil to 160°C in a suitable deep fryer or high-sided heavy pan, leaving safe room for bubbling; monitor the oil temperature.
Step 6
Roll the drained chestnuts in the batter and lower them carefully into the hot oil in small batches. Fry, turning occasionally with a skimmer, using 10 minutes as a guide. Finish only when the coating is golden, crisp and fully cooked and the centres of the fritters reach at least 74°C; extend cooking as needed.
Step 7
Lift out the fritters and drain on a clean food-safe cloth. Strain the actual reduced syrup into a serving dish, arrange the chestnut fritters over it, sprinkle a little icing sugar over all and serve immediately.
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