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Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2734, Mont-Rose, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
A scallop-shaped Plombière charlotte, ivory with vanilla and jeweled with kirsch fruit, turned out cold and covered in rough spoonfuls of raspberry Chantilly until it rises like Mont Rose.
Mont-Rose, a frozen vanilla and candied-fruit charlotte crowned with raspberry cream, teaches that cold is structure. Its Charlotte Plombière rests on a crème anglaise, the pouring custard that gives the frozen centre its velvet texture, while crème Chantilly, sweetened whipped cream, forms the rough pink summit. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is simple: every component must be thoroughly cold before the next one joins it.
The formula assumes a pastry section with a Charlotte Plombière already frozen, a salt-and-ice freezer, and a shallow Madeleine-mould waiting on the shelf. Your kitchen gets a small batch churned in a countertop machine and packed into a 1.2-litre shallow metal mould, enough for eight rather than a dining room. The brigade's extra hands and ornamental mould collection are scaffolding and can go. The vanilla custard ice, kirsch-soaked fruit, biscuit shell, raspberry Chantilly, and sequence of turning out before covering must stay, because they are the dish.
When it is right, the charlotte stands pale and firm beneath loose, craggy spoonfuls of rose-pink cream, with little flashes of candied fruit inside. No piping bag and no polished geometry. One cook, one stove, one evening, with the freezer doing the patient work. Freeze the charlotte completely, then trust the one-second dip; that turn is the step that decides the mountain.
Mont-Rose belongs to the Parisian repertoire of entremets glacés, named frozen centrepieces assembled by pastry kitchens for formal service rather than a regional household sweet. Its title points to Monte Rosa in the Alps, but the geography is visual, not culinary: rough pink raspberry Chantilly turns the pale Charlotte Plombière into a rocky summit. The Madeleine-mould in the formula is a large, shallow, narrow scallop-shell ice mould, not the tray of small fluted cake hollows most cooks now picture.
Quantity
⅔ cup (160 ml / 110 g)
cut into small dice
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g)
divided
Quantity
1¼ cups (300 ml / 310 g)
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 235 g)
divided
Quantity
1
split and scraped
Quantity
5
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 100 g)
Quantity
⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.7 g)
Quantity
18, about 5½ ounces (160 g)
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g)
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 50 g)
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 180 g)
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 40 g)
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 355 g)
very cold
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mixed candied fruitcut into small dice | ⅔ cup (160 ml / 110 g) |
| kirschdivided | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) |
| whole milk | 1¼ cups (300 ml / 310 g) |
| heavy cream for the frozen custarddivided | 1 cup (240 ml / 235 g) |
| vanilla beansplit and scraped | 1 |
| large egg yolks | 5 |
| granulated sugar | ½ cup (120 ml / 100 g) |
| fine sea salt | ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.7 g) |
| biscuits à la cuillère (ladyfingers) | 18, about 5½ ounces (160 g) |
| water | ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
| granulated sugar for the soaking syrup | ¼ cup (60 ml / 50 g) |
| fresh raspberries | 1½ cups (360 ml / 180 g) |
| confectioners' sugar | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 40 g) |
| heavy cream for the Chantillyvery cold | 1½ cups (360 ml / 355 g) |
Combine the diced candied fruit with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the kirsch and leave it for 30 minutes. Drain it over a small bowl, pressing nothing, and reserve every drop of the kirsch for the biscuit syrup. Chill the drained fruit. It must be cold and fairly dry before it enters the churned custard, since loose alcohol prevents a firm freeze.
Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the measured cream in the refrigerator. Warm the milk, remaining cream, vanilla pod, and scraped seeds until small bubbles gather at the edge, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the yolks with the ½ cup (100 g) sugar and salt until smooth, pour in the hot dairy gradually while whisking, and return everything to the pan. Stir constantly over gentle heat until the crème anglaise reaches 82 to 84°C (180 to 183°F) and coats a spoon in a clean, creamy film. Do not let it boil. If fine grains appear, take it off the heat immediately, blend in the reserved cold cream, and strain it. Ça se rattrape. Strain the custard into a bowl set over ice, discard the vanilla pod, and stir until cool. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until thoroughly cold.
Combine the water and the ¼ cup (50 g) sugar in a small pan, boil for 1 minute, and cool completely. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) kirsch and the liquor drained from the fruit. Brush the flat sides of the biscuits à la cuillère lightly with this syrup. Do not dip them, since soaked biscuits turn pasty when the charlotte thaws. Arrange the biscuits snugly over the bottom and sides of a chilled 1.2-litre shallow Madeleine-mould or oval metal bowl, trimming them to the rim and reserving enough to close the exposed surface. Freeze the lined mould for 15 minutes.
Churn the cold crème anglaise according to the machine's directions until it holds the texture of firm soft ice. Fold in the chilled candied fruit during the final minute, adding none of the loose macerating liquid. Pack the Plombière into the lined mould in three additions, pressing each layer gently into the scalloped recesses so no empty pockets remain. Close the surface with the reserved biscuits, brush them sparingly with syrup, and press them level. Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, until solid through the centre.
Crush the fresh raspberries with half the confectioners' sugar, then work them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. You should have about ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of brilliant, raw raspberry purée. Do not cook it. The fresh acidity and perfume are what keep the cream from tasting merely sweet. Refrigerate the purée until completely cold.
Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the cold cream. Whip the remainder with the remaining confectioners' sugar until it makes firm folds whose tips still bend, then fold in the cold raspberry purée in three additions. Stop as soon as the colour is even and the Chantilly stands on a spoon. If it loosens, chill the bowl for 10 minutes and whisk gently again. If it turns grainy from overwhipping, fold in the reserved liquid cream a teaspoon at a time until smooth. Ça se rattrape. Keep the Chantilly cold while you turn out the charlotte.
Chill the serving platter. Fill a basin with warm water, dip the mould in for one second, no longer, wipe it dry, and invert it firmly onto the platter. Lift the mould straight upward. If the charlotte refuses to release, repeat the one-second dip rather than leaving it in the water. A long soak melts the scalloped detail and leaves a puddle around the biscuits. If the surface has softened, return the turned-out charlotte to the freezer for 10 minutes before adding the cream.
Cover the top of the turned-out charlotte with generous tablespoonfuls of raspberry Chantilly, stacking them in narrowing tiers until they form a rough pyramidal rock. Leave the spoon marks visible. Mont-Rose should look craggy and abundant, not piped or polished. Serve immediately, cutting with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between portions. À table!
1 serving (about 210g)
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