Homemade Chestnut Jam with Brandy and Warm Spices

This holiday chestnut brandy jam with honey and warming spices is tasty seasonal spread. Enjoy it with toasted bread or as a filling for cakes or desserts. And it makes an excellent Christmas gift, too!

Hello, folks! How are you doing? I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and you are ready for the new week. Well, and apparently, the last month of 2024. How weird is that, right?

And today, I am sharing another recipe with chestnuts – one of the favourites of the holiday season! So, let’s dive into this holiday chestnut brandy jam.

Homemade Chestnut Jam with Brandy and Warm Spices

Chestnut jam. How does it sound?

I made Chocolate Chestnut Spread a while ago, and it was quite good. But this jam (or spread) is a completely different story. From my understanding, it is quite common in Italy and some other European countries. (Well, when I was making this version, I referred to a few Italian sites, including Chestnut Jam: Recipe + Tips – La Cucina Italiana.)

Most original recipes I checked called for only three ingredients – chestnuts, granulated sugar, and water. Some suggested aromatics like vanilla seeds or a splash of brandy.

My version did not turn out glossy like the recipes I followed. I believe this is so because I opted for light brown sugar. Plus, the addition of warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. And yes, I also added a few good splashes of both brandy and triple sec.

So, my version of jam may not look and taste as authentic as other recipes. But it did taste great, and as long as the taste is good, I am fine with the result.

How to Use This Chestnut Jam

I think there is a plenty of ways to enjoy this Chestnut Jam. The easy way would be on a warm toasted bread with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Think of filling for trifles, cakes, and tarts. I also saw suggestions to use it as a filling for ravioli (sounds tasty!). I was planning to use to for bliss balls. But honestly, this spread was so good, that I ended up eating it on toasted baguette. Either ways, you will like it!

I hope you like this Homemade Chestnut Jam with Brandy and Warm Spices, and you will give it a try. If you make it, please let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos by adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

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Homemade Chestnut Jam with Brandy and Warm Spices

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Christmas, Sweet Spreads and Preserves

Servings

8-14

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

20

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

This holiday chestnut brandy jam with honey and warming spices is tasty seasonal spread and an excellent Christmas gift.

The recipe adapted from La Cucina Italiana

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Ingredients

• about 700-750 gr. chestnuts

• 3/5 cup (150 gr.) light-brown sugar

• 2 tbsp. (40 ml.) honey

• about 80-100 ml. water

• a few generous splashes (2-3 tbsp. or 30-45 ml.) brandy or triple sec (or both) (optional)

• a small pinch of salt

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp. ginger and nutmeg, each

Directions

• Wash the chestnuts and using a sharp knife, score (x-shaped cuts) each of them.
• Transfer the chestnuts to a medium-large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 45 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the chestnuts cool in the water for about 15 minutes.
• Drain them, then peel off the first layer of tough brown skin and as much of the papery brown skin as possible. 
• Put them back in the pot, cover with water and boil for another 10 minutes. Drain, cool a little, then peel off the remaining pieces of skin. 
• Now, you have two options. Either mash the chestnuts with a potato masher (for a more rustic, dense result) or process them in a blender (for a smoother, creamier jam). I opted for something in between: I used an immersion blender, leaving some little chunks of chestnuts.
• Now, you will need to do the math. You will need to measure the chestnuts pure (you should have about 550 gr.) Now, you need to measure the sugar, equal to 1/3 of the weight of the chestnut pure. lastly, you need to measure water, which is equal to 1/3 of the weight of the sugar. For example, in my case I had nearly 600 gr. of chestnut pure, which required ~200 gr. of sugar (I used 150 gr. of sugar and 40 gr. of honey) and about 100 ml. of water.
• Place the water, sugar, honey, and spices in a medium saucepan over low heat. When the sugar has dissolved, add the chestnut cream.
• Cook the jam for about 20 minutes, constantly stirring – it could start sticking to the bottom of the pan. If it looks too think, you can add a little of water.
• At the end, add a few good splashes of brandy or triple sec (or both as I did). This is optional, but it will nicely round out the sweetness.
• Cool then transfer it to jars. The jam will stay fresh for up to two weeks refrigerated, but if want to expand its shelf life, use sterilized jars.