Chestnut Hush

01

What you’ll need

• 120 g ready-to-eat cooked, peeled chestnuts, with chestnuts as the only ingredient; not horse chestnuts
• 400 ml unsweetened plain vegan oat milk
• 120 ml water
• 2 green cardamom pods, lightly cracked
• 2 thin slices fresh ginger, about 4 g total
• 20 ml pure maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon pure alcohol-free vanilla bean powder, with no added dairy or sugar
• 1 very small pinch fine salt, about 1/32 teaspoon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, divided between the two finished drinks

02

Mix the drink

1. Inspect the chestnuts and discard any hard shell or inner skin fragments. Roughly chop them. Use plain cooked edible chestnuts, not candied or liqueur-soaked products.
2. Combine the water, cracked cardamom pods and ginger slices in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on low for 4 minutes. Remove the pods, any loose cardamom seeds and the ginger with a fine-mesh strainer, retaining the infused water.
3. Return the infused water to a deep saucepan. Add the chopped chestnuts, oat milk, maple syrup, vanilla powder and salt. Warm over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring regularly, until the chestnuts are very soft and the milk is steaming gently. Do not boil vigorously.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Use an immersion blender with its head fully submerged to blend for 45-60 seconds, until smooth and lightly aerated. Keep the pan stable and do not lift a running blender out of the warm liquid. If using a countertop blender instead, cool the mixture first, follow its instructions for warm liquids and rewarm the blended drink gently afterward.
5. Pass the blended drink through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing gently to remove any chestnut grit. Warm again over low heat, stirring, until pleasantly hot but not scalding, about 55-60 C.
6. Whisk briskly by hand for 15 seconds to create a fine surface froth, then divide immediately between the prepared mugs. Use no bitters, spirits, fermented mixers, honey or alcohol-based vanilla extract.