Serves: 4
Total Calories: 308

1 pound water chestnut
water to cover
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 to 2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Score chestnuts by making a crisscross cut on the flat side of each one.

2. Bring water to a boil. Add chestnuts and cook until soft (about 40 minutes). Drain, let cool and shell.

3. Mince or grind chestnut meats then blend in sugar and salt. Shape the mixture as a mound on a serving platter.

4. Whip cream (see HOW-TO, _Cream: To whip). Then fold in powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Arrange as a topping over chestnut mound.

5. Serve garnished with either preserved kumquats or maraschino cherries or with glazed fruit (see Glazed Fruit for Peking Dust), which must be prepared in advance.

VARIATION:
* In step 4, fold half the sweetened whipped cream into the chestnut mixture. Pack the mixture into an oiled mold or bowl then carefully invert onto a serving platter. Top with remaining whipped cream, and garnish as in step 5.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 4
Total Calories: 308
Calories from Fat: 200

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Sweet Dishes
Almond Cookies
Almond Float I
Almond Float II
Banana Gelatin
Eight Precious Pudding
Eight Precious Pudding: Fruit and Nut Combinations
Eight Precious Pudding: Sweetened Water
Ginger Soup
Ginger Soup: Dumplings
Glazed Chestnut Balls
Glazed Whole Chestnuts
Green Pea Pudding
Honeyed Apples
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture A
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture B
Honeyed Apples: Syrup Mixture C
Honeyed Bananas
Honeyed Crab Apples
Hot Lotus Tea
Peking Dust I
Peking Dust II
Peking Dust: Glazed Fruit
Pineapple Gelatin
Sesame Seed Cookies
Spiced Roasted Peanuts
Steamed Pears
Steamed Red Date Cake
Steamed Sponge Cake
Sugared Chestnut Balls
Sugared Walnuts
Sweet Almond Tea I
Sweet Almond Tea II
Sweet Almond Tea III
Sweet Grapefruit Tea
Sweet Orange Tea I
Sweet Orange Tea II
Sweet Peanut Soup
Sweet Pineapple Tea
Sweet Walnut Tea
Sweetened Water
Turkish Barley Pudding
Water Chestnut Pudding