Take forty good chestnuts and roast them over a slow fire. Do not
allow them to become dried up or colored. Remove the shells carefully,
put them in a bowl, and pour over them one-half a glass of rum and two
or three tablespoons of powdered sugar. Set fire to the rum and baste
the chestnuts constantly as long as the rum will burn, turning the
chestnuts about so they will absorb the rum and become colored.
Source:
Simple Italian Cookery 
