Plant Milks
Chestnut Milk in gelato
Chestnut milk is a dairy-free plant beverage made by blending cooked or roasted chestnuts with water. It is starchy, low in fat, and only mildly sweet, contributing body and a gentle nutty flavor rather than richness or sweetness.
Balancing parameters
Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Solids | 12.3% |
| Water | 87.7% |
| Sugars | 2.6% |
| Fat | 0.65% |
| MSNF | 0% |
| Protein | 0.65% |
| POD (sweetening power) | 2.7 |
| PAC (anti-freezing power) | 2.9 |
Typical use: 15-40% of the mix as a liquid base; less as a flavor accent
Balance chestnut milk in a real recipe
Free balancer · no signup wall · watch PAC, POD and Total Solids update live as you add it.
Open the balancerHow to use it in gelato
Use chestnut milk as a low-fat, dairy-free liquid base, especially for vegan or 'marron' gelato. Its sugar is sucrose-dominant, so it barely sweetens (POD coefficient near 1.0) and contributes little anti-freezing power (PAC about 2.9 per 100 g); balance the mix by adding dextrose or other sugars to hit your target PAC. Its main technical benefit is chestnut starch, which swells and thickens to boost viscosity and body, lending a creamy mouthfeel and slower melt without adding fat. Because it carries almost no fat, pair it with a fat source (plant cream or oil) when you want richness.
Origin & background
Chestnuts were a staple starch, the 'bread tree' of Mediterranean and Apennine mountain communities, long before wheat was affordable there. They are unusual among nuts: starch-rich rather than fat-rich, with only about 1.4-2.4 g of fat per 100 g (Aprifel; CREA), and are often cited as the only nut containing appreciable vitamin C. Chestnut milk is a modern plant-milk adaptation of this tradition, prized as one of the lowest-fat nut milks.