Kafkas Candied Chestnut in Chocolate 280g — Bursa Kestane Şekeri

Whole candied chestnuts from Bursa, dipped in a dark cocoa coating — this is Kafkas's chocolate-covered take on kestane şekeri, the Turkish cousin of the French marron glacé. Each piece is half chestnut by weight (50% chestnut in the recipe), slowly candied in sugar syrup until soft and glossy, then sealed under a thin bitter cocoa shell that keeps the sweetness in check. If candied chestnuts have a home address, it is Bursa. The city at the foot of Uludağ has been turning its mountain chestnuts into kestane şekeri for generations, and Kafkas is one of its oldest names — the house opened its first shop on Bursa's Atatürk Avenue in 1930 and still runs on the same recipe logic: chestnut first, everything else second. Plain kestane şekeri is intensely sweet by design; the chocolate-coated version is the one most first-timers (and most repeat buyers) reach for, because the bitter cocoa layer balances the candied centre. The 280g carton holds individually coated whole chestnuts — a size that works as a first try, a gift, or a tea-time box you will finish faster than planned. Serve at room temperature with Turkish coffee or black tea; the pairing is how Bursa itself eats them. Good to know: chestnuts are a tree nut, and the cocoa coating contains soy lecithin. The producer's facility also handles peanuts, gluten, other tree nuts and sesame, and the product may contain trace sulphur dioxide. Shelf life is 4 months — keep the box cool and out of direct sunlight.