110g cooked and peeled whole chestnuts;

85g dark chocolate, chopped;

290ml double cream;
1 tbspn icing sugar;

vanilla extract;

1oz caster sugar.

Grate 30g of the chocolate and keep to one side. Melt the remaining chocolate and, in a
small saucepan, gently heat through the chestnuts and a third of the cream for 2-3 minutes.

Whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar in a large bowl until it forms soft peaks and
then fold a drop of vanilla extract into the whipped cream.

Transfer the chestnut mixture
into a liquidiser and blend to a purée and fold it and the melted chocolate into the whipped
cream. Serve in two small glass bowls and top with the grated chocolate.

(You can buy jars and tins of cooked and peeled chestnuts to save you fiddling, and you can buy chestnut purée in tins to make things even easier!)