Happy New Year! The Christmas cookie has passed, but the winter treats like the Maroniherz, or chestnut heart, chestnut puree pressed into a heart-shaped mould and then dipped, remain. According to Florian Holzer, the origins of the Maroniherz remain murky but it is thought to arise either from France or northern Italy, regions in which many chestnut-based sweets, the marron glacé being one, were born. South Tyrol in particular seems rather keen to lay claim to the Maroniherz (or Kastanienherz), claiming it as an 1948 invention of the local pastry chef Ivo Moschén. Then but 14-years-old, messing around in the kitchens of Café Maria in Bozen, he came up with the Maroniherz as something that could be served in fall and winter as a sweet treat at a party.
Where to find a Maroniherz in Vienna? For this, I turn to a recent article in the Standard on this very subject, which reads a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The Maroniherzen from Aida are too big, Michael Steingruber writes, taste too "acrid" and "rummy," and may be flavoured artificially. The ones from Heindl are too uneven, and the filling "floury" and "dry" with nougat and rum notes. The ones from the confectioners Altmann & Kühne are flat, a sign of the fact that they're obviously handmade, with a filling Steingruber describes as fine, creamy, buttery, and rummy. But the winner, the non-plus-ultra of Maroniherzen, comes from Oberlaa. It's "perfect," Steingruber says: plump in form, crisp chocolate shell, wonderful aroma, and the right balance of chocolate and chestnut with a hint of vanilla. Hurry while stocks last.
