Serves: 10
Total Calories: 221

2 pounds water chestnuts
water to cover
milk to cover
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 pound butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brandy
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup maraschino cherry

1. Shell chestnuts. Place in cold water and bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes then drain.

2. Add milk and vanilla extract to chestnuts and heat (but do not boil). Simmer, covered, until chestnuts are tender (20 to 30 minutes). Drain, discarding milk.

3. Mash chestnuts together with butter, sugar and brandy. (The mixture should have the consistency of mashed potatoes. If it doesn't, add some heavy cream.)

4. Meanwhile heat the oven to 275 degrees. Beat egg white with cream of tartar until stiff, but not dry.

5. Fold in salt, then sugar, then remaining vanilla extract. Transfer egg mixture to a pastry tube.

6. Line a baking sheet with foil. Squeeze egg mixture out of tube in the shape of a nest. Bake until golden (40 to 50 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Then transfer to a serving platter.

7. Meanwhile transfer the chestnut mixture to the pastry tube. Then squeeze it out in thin threads over the baked egg nest to form a mound on top.

8. Whip heavy cream (see HOW-TO, _Cream: To whip). Then sweeten it with powdered sugar. Arrange as a topping over chestnut mound. Garnish with maraschino cherries and serve.

VARIATION:
* For the brandy, substitute rum.

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

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 10
Total Calories: 221
Calories from Fat: 93

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