Roasted Chestnuts and Salted Caramel Dip – Winter Warmer Recipe

Winter Warmer Recipe – Roasted Chestnuts and Salted Caramel Sauce | Immortal Wordsmith

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…

Jack Frost nipping at your nose…

Except it’s not quite Christmas yet. It’s early November! Roasted chestnuts are a deliciously warm treat that you can enjoy throughout the winter period. We’re serving ours with salted caramel as a winter warmer or on fireworks night.

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Preparing the Chestnuts

Start by cutting your chestnuts with a slash or cross on one side. This needs to be done whether you’re oven roasting chestnuts or using the fire. You need to pierce the tough outer shell but not cut into the soft nut inside.

chestnuts ready for roasting

Oven Roasting Chestnuts

If you’re not a traditionalist, then oven roasting chestnuts is a great way to cook them all through without having to worry whether the occasional one needs “to stay on longer”.

Heat your oven to 220C.

Place the chestnuts in a shallow baking tray with cuts/slashes facing upwards.

Roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until the edges of the shell are starting to pull back to reveal the pale nut inside.

Take them out of the oven and leave to cool a little before peeling and fully removing the shells.

oven roasted chestnuts

Using an Open Fire to Roast Chestnuts

If you are using a fire instead, you first need to get up a good blaze. We tend to roast chestnuts on the fire in the evenings when it’s already been roaring for several hours, if not the entire day.

Let your fire burn low until you’ve got a good spread of hot glowing embers.

hot embers

Place the cut chestnuts in a special pan (or you can use a baking tray) and place this directly on the embers. Keep a careful eye on the chestnuts, making sure they don’t burn. Take out the pan and shake them a little if need be.

They will crack and pop a bit so make sure you have nothing near the fire while you’re doing this. Place a fire guard around it or close the doors slightly if it is an enclosed fireplace.

chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Depending on how hot the fire is, your chestnuts could take up to 10 minutes. They will smell lovely when ready and the skins will be pulling away slightly from the pale nut inside. Don’t worry if the outside shell is blackened on one side.

Take the pan out (be careful to make sure no embers cling to the bottom) and shake the roasted chestnuts onto some newspaper or kitchen roll. Leave until they’re cool enough to touch.

The skins should be easy enough to peel away.

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

To make the salted caramel dipping sauce, you will need:

  • 200g brown sugar
  • 300ml double cream
  • 50g butter
  • Salt to taste

salted caramel sauce

Combine all the ingredients apart from the salt in a saucepan and gently heat until all is melted and combined.

Turn up the heat until there are bubbles in the mixture and then reduce down until you’re left with a gloopy caramel sauce.

Start to add salt, tasting the mixture every now and then until you reach a flavour and consistency you’re happy with.

bubbling salted caramel sauce

Leave the sauce to cool a little, serving it drizzled over the roasted chestnuts.

Alternatively, you can cool the sauce and serve with the freshly roasted, hot chestnuts speared on skewers!

roasted chestnuts and salted caramel sauce

We hope you enjoy this winter warmer treat and look forward to sharing other things with you in the future so subscribe and follow us!

Isobel Moore

Isobel Moore is a quiet, quirky and creative “human bean” whose favourite pastime is curling up with a cuppa and a good book.

Over the past 5 years, her tea reviews at Immortal Wordsmith have helped thousands of readers choose vibrant tea blends and single origin selections from fine, organic, and responsible tea companies.

As a professional content writer with a qualification in digital marketing, Isobel has worked with market-leading tea brands around the globe to develop their content marketing campaigns and gain exposure. Her professional portfolio can be found on Upwork.

Besides a deep-rooted passion for tea, Isobel writes on topics ranging from food and travel to wellness and literature.

Favourite Quote: “Manuscripts don’t burn” – Mikhail Bulgakov

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