Vermiselle was a new culinary encounter for me when I moved to Switzerland. This Swiss dessert specialty is eaten in autumn and winter and consists of puréed chestnuts mixed with sugar, vanilla and milk pressed through a perforated plate into long worms (vermicelli in Italian). Usually, vermiselle is accompanied by merengue and whipped cream. And sometimes it’s tasted with Swiss cherry brandy. This is my child-friendly take on a very typical Swiss delicacy.

Chestnut mousse: Mix 250 g sweetened chestnut purée with 100 ml whipped cream.

Sour cherry juice reduction: Bring 100 ml sour cherry juice and 1 tbsp sugar to the boil. Reduce until sticky.

Merengue: Prepare the merengues according to the recipe in my sugar beet mousse blog post.

Dulce de leche cream: Whip 250 ml heavy cream with 200 g dulce de leche.

Assembly: Place a generous dollop mousse on a mirror of sour cherry juice reduction. Decorate with heaps of dulce de leche cream and merengues as well as sour cherries and lemon balm.