1 1/4 pounds chestnuts
3 cups milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cognac

Cut a crisscross on the pointed end of the chestnuts.

Cover with water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat 15 minutes. Drain, peel and remove the inner skin.

Combine the chestnuts and milk; cook over low heat 45 minutes or until very soft.

Drain, mash smooth and beat in the sugar.

Force the chestnut mixture through a ricer or food mill onto a serving dish into a cone-shaped mound.

Chill 1 hour.

Whip the cream; fold the cognac into it.

Completely cover the mound.

Serves 6-8.

The recipe in this entry was taken from "The Pleasures of Italian Cooking" by Romeo Salta, with an Introduction by Myra Waldo, photographs by Roberto Caramico, assisted by John Ciofalo. The book was published in New York by The MacMillan Company in 1962. For the complete copyright-free cook book visit www.archive.org.... Image [underneath chestnuts] -- Henri Rousseau: Promenade in the Woods.

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