Glögg with the chestnuts
Spiced glögg for adults and children's glögg made with cordial – in the same pot over the fire.
To the glöggRoasted chestnuts over an open fire – score, roast and peel them warm
Cut a cross, shake the pan over the embers and peel them warm
- 4 people
- Time: 10 min + 20 min over the embers
- Difficulty: Easy
- 3 ingredients
- 11 steps
Roasted chestnuts are the scent of winter – at Christmas markets around Europe they sit in big pans over the embers and are sold in paper cones. You can do the same by your own fire: a pan, a bed of embers and twenty minutes. The chestnuts turn sweet, soft and a little floury, rather like a mix of sweet potato and nut.
All it takes is a cross in the shell. Without it, steam builds up pressure inside the chestnut until it pops – and hot chestnut flies off. With the cross the shell opens instead, and that also tells you when they are done.
Edible chestnuts – not horse chestnuts
The chestnuts children pick up in the park in autumn are almost always horse chestnuts. They are poisonous and must not be eaten. The chestnuts you roast are sweet chestnuts, which you buy in the supermarket in autumn and winter.
- Sweet chestnut: smaller and flatter, with a little point and a tuft at the top. It grows in a husk with dense, long spines, like a hedgehog.
- Horse chestnut: large, round and shiny, with no point. It grows in a green husk with a few short spines.
Buy the chestnuts in the shop and you will get it right. The horse chestnuts from the park can become chestnut figures instead – as in pine cone ghosts.
Method
- Light a fire and let it burn down to an even bed of embers, much as for sausages on a stick.
- Place the chestnuts flat side down on a chopping board. Cut a cross in the rounded side, through the hard shell but not deep into the chestnut.
- Put the chestnuts in warm water for 10–15 minutes. This makes the shell a little softer and the chestnuts juicier.
- Drain the water and put the chestnuts in the pan, cross side up.
- Hold the pan over the embers, or set it on a grill rack just above. Shake the pan often so that the chestnuts roast evenly.
- Roast for 15–25 minutes, until the shell has opened at the cross, is black here and there and the chestnut inside is soft.
- Tip the chestnuts into a tea towel, fold it over and let them rest for five minutes.
- Peel them while they are warm – both the hard shell and the thin skin underneath. Eat them as they are, or with a little butter and sea salt flakes.
How to tell when the chestnuts are done
- The cross has opened and the shell curls outwards.
- The shell has black spots, but the chestnut is not burnt.
- The chestnut inside is soft when you press it, rather like a boiled potato.
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If the chestnut is hard and difficult to peel, it needs a few more minutes. It is better to test one chestnut too many than to roast them all for too long – then they turn dry and hard.
Chestnuts with children
The children can pick out the chestnuts, put them in the water and shake the pan – with fire gloves and an adult beside them. An adult cuts the cross, as the shell is hard and the knife slips easily. When the chestnuts come off the fire they are very hot inside, so let them rest in the tea towel before the children peel them.
Read about fire safety before you start, and check the rules for lighting fires outdoors where you are.
Vary the chestnuts
- With cinnamon and sugar: roll the peeled chestnuts in a little melted butter, sugar and cinnamon.
- With rosemary: sprinkle sea salt flakes and chopped rosemary over the warm chestnuts.
- In the embers: wrap the chestnuts in double foil and put them straight into the embers for 15 minutes, like fire-baked root vegetables in foil.
- For dessert: serve with chocolate fondue over an open fire or banana in foil with chocolate.
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All recipes →Frequently asked questions
Why do chestnuts explode?
The steam inside the chestnut builds up pressure as it heats. Without a cross in the shell, the chestnut can burst with a bang. Always cut a cross in every chestnut before roasting it.
How long should chestnuts roast over the fire?
About 15–25 minutes in a pan over the embers, depending on how big they are and how hot the embers are. They are done when the cross has opened and the chestnut is soft inside.
Can you eat the chestnuts from the park?
No. The chestnuts in Swedish parks and avenues are almost always horse chestnuts, which are poisonous. You buy sweet chestnuts in the shop.
What is the easiest way to peel chestnuts?
Let the chestnuts rest in a folded tea towel for five minutes as soon as they come off the fire, and peel them while they are warm. Cold chestnuts are much harder to peel.
More by the fire this winter: make glögg over an open fire, smoke and glaze the Christmas ham in a smoker box or read the whole the Christmas guide.
More guides and recipes to read
More by the fire this winter