A Parisian Christmas with Chestnuts

We have them roasting on an open fire, but honestly, the French have a far better take on chestnuts, or marrons as they're called, during Christmas.

Mont Blanc is the queen of chestnut desserts, making it a must-try at Café Angelina on rue de Rivoli in Paris, where it is a house speciality. I've written about their iconic hot chocolate in a separate blog post.

But where you really want to wander to in Paris is rue Montmartre, where you will find Mora and nearby G Détou. Both shops are heaven for foodies and chefs, and it's where you will find a full range of Clément Faugier’s iconic chestnut purée and chestnut ingredients. This is the cupboard staple you didn't know you needed.

This isn't just any chestnut ingredient; this is chestnut purée made by the same family-run company that started in 1882 in the Ardèche region of France by Mr. Clément Faugier. He very cleverly found a way of preserving chestnuts all year long so that they weren't just a festive speciality, and for that, we thank him immensely — merci Monsieur.

Whilst I will happily eat straight from the tin, the chestnut spread can be a little too rich. So I knew that if I wanted to make this part of our Christmas range, we needed to find something else to balance out the flavour. Et voilà, the conference pear with its delicate and sweet taste pairs perfectly with the rich and moreish chestnut.

Our luxury range of Christmas macarons have all been carefully put together and made by hand by a most wonderful team in our kitchen in Edinburgh. But whispers of Paris and memories of living there still get whisked in with the ingredients. That's what we believe makes our award-winning macarons extra special — a little je ne sais quoi.

So whether you buy online to send our French macarons anywhere across the UK (including your own address for your own wishlist!) or pick them up from our kitchen in Edinburgh, Christmas just got a little more luxurious and delicious with our jewel-like creations.

Joyeux Noël, mes chéris!

Rachel x