This holiday season, surprise your guests with these exquisite French marrons glacés. Marrons glacés are chestnuts that have been candied and glazed. They are filled with syrup and covered with an extremely thin layer of sugar. These delightful French treats are individually wrapped in golden foil and are packaged in a pretty retro box that contains 11 candied chestnuts.

Preparation: in order to be candied, the chestnut must be rounded, soft, and devoid of deep wrinkles. Its long and delicate confection makes it expensive and in France an occasion only for Christmas. No less than 20 handlings are necessary to candy a good quality chestnut. One by one, each chestnut is inspected and the ones whose shape and size are not suitable for confection are discarded. The good ones are brushed and peeled; they are then enveloped two by two in cheese cloth and soaked in boiling water. They cook during an accurate time, calculated according to the maturity and the grade of the chestnut. After having been taken out from the cloth, they are sorted again. Only the intact chestnuts are kept for confection, whose delicate handling consists in getting the sugar syrup into the heart of the fruit. Once again, only the intact chestnuts are kept. They will be then glacé and dried in the oven. As the glacé chestnuts are vacuum-packed, they can keep for several months as long as the box is not opened.

The candied chestnut was born in the 19th century. In Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, it was considered as a treat to be bought and eaten for Christmas and New Year's but what we do not know is whether the chestnut at the time was glacé or simply candied. Cultivation of the chestnut tree was inherited from the Romans and developed on the soil of Ardèche in the region of Rhône-Alpes. As so many chestnut trees grew in that region, a man of the name of Clément Faugier thought he could help boost the economy of the region by using this natural treasure. As silkworm breeding was on the decline and unemployment on the rise, he joined together with local candy-makers in 1882 and created the first factory specializing in the confection of candied chestnuts. The new company soon did well enough to boost the town's economy. Candied chestnuts are very fragile and cannot withstand temperature differences and long travels. This product requires special packaging that protects it from air, humidity, heat, and light. In 1890, Clément Faugier, who wanted to export candied chestnuts, invented the system of vacuum-packing. He tested this new packaging by sending vacuum-packed candied chestnuts on a sailing boat to his friend settled in Zanzibar. His friend sent them back to him and they came back intact. The test was a real success.

All our products are made in France and to maintain the high quality and freshness of our products, we ship directly from our shop in France to your door step via FedEx International Express. We have forged a relationship with FedEx that allows us to ship directly to you within 2 days at a cost often times lower than what you would pay for similar delivery, but from state to state within the US. We pass this savings directly on to you and we are sure you will appreciate this shipping arrangement when your package arrives on your step in the same condition and freshness as if you had walked into French chocolatier and picked them up yourself.

As soon as your order is placed, it will be immediately processed. If the items you ordered are in stock and the order is received before 11 a.m. U.S Central Time, your package is shipped the same day. Orders received after 12 a.m. U.S Central Time are shipped the next business day.