When we were in Paris, I picked up a small multipack of my favourite sweetened chestnut puree by Clement Faugier. It’s probably available at every supermarket in France and it’s the classic creme de marrons that’s spread onto freshly made crepes. On this past trip, however, I discovered that Bonne Maman also makes a chestnut spread – confiture de chataignes. Of course I had to purchase that too!

Creme de Marrons

While the Clement Faugier puree is sweeter and darker, the Bonne Maman spread is lighter and not as oily seeming. I don’t think I can pick a favourite of the two but the Art Nouveau packaging of the Clement Faugier tin does win me over just that little bit more! I’d just been eating spoonfuls of it but then Blai converted me to the most indulgent of combinations of creme de marrons and creme fraiche. The sweet chestnut puree melds so well with the thick, tangy, cold creme fraiche. Or in those crepes! It’s one of my favourite crepe fillings and it’s very simple to replicate at home. On toast for breakfast? Perhaps as a cake filling? Or how about another classic dessert – the Montblanc; this has whipped cream and creme de marrons and sometimes crisp meringue.

In London, you can find the Clement Faugier brand at Partridges or possibly at other specialist grocers. I particularly like the small tubes for about £1 – squeeze it on just about anything (or directly into your mouth).

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Thank you to Marianna of Swirl & Scramble for passing on the Arte y Pico award to Tamarind and Thyme! I think the idea is to pass it on to 5 other bloggers for their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogger community.

I’m passing the award on to (in alphabetical order!):

Dinner Diary – Fred and Ginger (not their real names – that would be way too much of a coincidence) blog about their dinners (duh) and their gorgeous photographs always tempt me to jump up from the computer and recreate their dishes in my kitchen.

Gastronomy – Based in Vietnam, the gastronomer and astronomer eat their way around town. I am so jealous!

Mr Orph’s Kitchen – Donald cooks such lovely food and I can relate to him as another engineer who cooks!

Tasty Treats – Charmaine is based in London and also writes freelance for Time Out. She writes fantastically and has beautiful photographs to boot!

World Foodie Guide – Also based in London, Helen blogs about all the restaurants she visits in London and has also rated them on a useful 10 point scale.