Japanese Chestnut "Kuri" Sweets

Chestnut, or Kuri in Japanese is one of my most favorite ingredients in sweets. I like Japanese chestnut sweets as well as European chestnut sweets like Mont-Blanc aux marrons, a dessert of pureed sweetened chestnut topped with whipped cream, which resembles a snow-topped mountain.

Fall/Winter is a chestnut season. There are more chestnut sweets available in Japan during then. My mother kindly sent us some Japanese chestnut sweets made by Taneya, a Japanese confectionery opened in 1872.

This was "Kuri-Kuri" - steamed pureed sweetened chestnut mixed with agar, like silky smooth pudding.

This was "Kuri-Gekka," a brick of steamed pureed sweetened chestnut - very dense but delicate and full of pure chestnut flavor.
 
Basically both were steamed pureed sweetened chestnut, no butter or cream or flour or extra flavor. Just chestnut. Believe me they were super delicious!

I wished I could get chestnut sweets here. Somehow chestnut sweets is not seen in the US, at least around my place. It has been a big mystery for me.