Autumn is a magnificent season when we can admire the foliage of trees ablaze with colour. It's also a time to enjoy lovely autumn walks while gathering chestnuts. They're most often enjoyed warm, straight from the oven. Why not take the opportunity to make a delicious chestnut jam? Also known as chestnut spread, this preparation is ideal for spreading on pancakes or sweetening yoghurt. Discover how to make a delightful chestnut jam.

When, how and where to harvest chestnuts?

When to harvest?

Depending on the variety and climate, chestnut harvesting begins as early as September and continues until November.

How to harvest chestnuts?

Watch your fingers! Chestnut burrs are covered in sharp spines, like little hedgehogs. Equip yourself with gardening gloves to avoid getting pricked. Chestnuts are typically harvested directly from the ground. Indeed, the burrs open and detach from the tree once the fruit is ripe. There's no need to try picking them. Only collect chestnuts that are brown, shiny, hole-free and firm. Some gardeners don't hesitate to use a rake or small claw to rake the ground and easily open the burrs. As preparing chestnuts is rather tedious, it's best to collect the largest fruits.

WARNING! Be careful not to confuse chestnuts with horse chestnuts (the fruit of the horse chestnut tree) whose seeds are toxic.

Left: chestnuts, recognisable by their spiky burrs / right: toxic horse chestnuts from the horse chestnut tree, recognisable by their less spiky burrs

A chestnut tree in my garden: which varieties to choose?

  • The 'Marigoule' Chestnut is a large tree particularly interesting for its disease resistance, its value to pollinators and its high productivity of large fruits. This variety is especially suited to the southwest and Brittany.
  • The 'Marron de Lyon' Chestnut is a large tree, very attractive to pollinators and has the particularity of being self-fertile. It produces large reddish-brown fruits.
  • The Common Chestnut is an imposing tree that can reach 20 to 30 m in height. It produces shiny brown fruits.

The chestnut jam recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 kilo of chestnuts
  • 1 kilo of white sugar (also called granulated or caster sugar)
  • 1 glass of water (25 cl)
  • Optional: 1 vanilla pod

Preparation time:

Between 1 hour 15 minutes and 2 hours

Cooking time:

30 minutes

Recipe:

Before starting the jam, remember to sterilise your jars and lids.

1/ Begin by cleaning the chestnuts in water and removing any that float to the surface. Then, using a knife or chestnut tongs, make an incision in the hard shell of the fruit. Then remove this first skin from your chestnuts.


2/ Boil water in a saucepan. Plunge the chestnuts into boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain them. Using a cloth or the tip of a knife, peel off the second skin while they're still warm.

chestnut spread
3/ Put your shelled chestnuts back into your preserving pan and cover with water. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat from the point of boiling.
4/ Drain your chestnuts in a large colander, then reduce them to a purée using a blender.
5/ Pour the purée into a saucepan or jam pan. Add a glass of water, along with the sugar and the vanilla pod split in half.

6/ Bring the mixture to the boil, then cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Remember to stir frequently with a wooden spoon. If scum forms, remove it with a skimmer.
7/ After 20 minutes, check the consistency of your jam by pouring a small spoonful of the mixture onto a cold plate. Place it in the refrigerator. After 2 minutes, take out your plate and tilt it: if the jam is still too runny, cook for another 5 minutes.
8/ Once cooking is complete, remove the vanilla pod and immediately pour your jam into a glass jar using a ladle. Fill your jam jar right to the top, screw on the lid and immediately turn the jar upside down with a tea towel. Let the jars cool to room temperature before storing them.


9/ Store your jam jars in a dark room protected from temperature variations.
10/ Once opened, keep your jar in the refrigerator.

Recipe ideas:

You can use chestnut jam, or chestnut spread, to make cakes, flavour yoghurt, spread on pancakes, make ice cream and even fill choux pastries.

The benefits of chestnuts:

In the past and in some regions, chestnuts were part of the staple diet for humans, as well as for farm animals. The chestnut tree was even nicknamed "the bread tree" or "sausage tree". Chestnuts are said to be rich in carbohydrates, vitamins and contain fibre.

To go further:

Check out our guide to learn all about chestnut trees: planting, pruning and care.