Mont Blanc (モンブラン)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fine sieve or food mill
• •Piping bag
• •Mont Blanc piping tip, or a small round piping tip
• •Baking sheet with parchment

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare chestnuts

   Score each chestnut across the rounded side and soak them in hot water for 20 minutes. This softens the shell and makes peeling less of a wrestling match, which is good for the cook and better for the chestnut. Peel away the shell and inner skin while they are still warm.

2. 2

   Simmer until tender

   Put the peeled chestnuts in a small pot, cover with water, and add 60g of the granulated sugar and the salt. Simmer gently for 35 to 45 minutes, until a skewer slips through without force. Hard boiling knocks the pieces about and makes the flavor muddy, so keep the water only quietly moving.

3. 3

   Make chestnut paste

   Drain the chestnuts, saving a little cooking liquid. Press the warm chestnuts through a fine sieve or food mill, then beat in the vanilla, butter, and enough milk to make a smooth paste. It should be soft enough to pipe but firm enough to hold a ridge. If it cracks, add milk by the teaspoon. If it droops, chill it briefly.

   Warm chestnuts pass through the sieve more cleanly. Once cold, their starch tightens, and you start fighting the paste instead of shaping it.
4. 4

   Bake meringue bases

   Heat the oven to 120C. Beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the superfine sugar little by little and beat until glossy peaks stand upright. Fold in the cornstarch and rice vinegar. Pipe or spoon 8 small rounds onto parchment and bake for about 1 hour, until dry outside and easy to lift. Let them cool in the oven with the door cracked so they dry without browning.

5. 5

   Whip the cream

   Whip the cold heavy cream with the powdered sugar until it holds soft peaks. Stop there. Stiff cream turns grainy under the chestnut paste and makes the little mountain heavy, which is not what we came for.

6. 6

   Build the cakes

   Set each meringue on a small tray or plate. Spoon or pipe a rounded mound of whipped cream on top, leaving a narrow edge of meringue visible. The cream gives height and lightness, while the meringue gives contrast under the soft chestnut.

7. 7

   Pipe chestnut strands

   Fit a piping bag with a Mont Blanc tip or a small multi-hole tip and fill it with the chestnut paste. Pipe from the outside inward, circling gently so the strands fall over the cream without pressing it flat. Keep the bag close to the cake and let the paste settle. Force it from high above and it lands like string. Guide it quietly and it becomes a mountain.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Set one sweetened chestnut on each cake and chill for 20 minutes before serving. Serve the same day if using meringue, because the base softens as it drinks moisture from the cream. That little crisp edge is part of the pleasure.

Chef Tips

• •Make this in chestnut season if you can. A fresh kuri should feel heavy, with a glossy shell and no rattle inside. If the chestnuts are tired, use good bottled sweetened chestnuts instead of pretending poor fruit will improve in the pot.
• •The traditional tool is a Mont Blanc piping tip with several fine holes. A small round tip works as a stand-in if you pipe many close strands, but a star tip changes the look of the cake.
• •Sieve the chestnut paste once more before piping if it resists the bag. One hard bit can block the tip and turn calm work into comedy.

Advance Preparation

• •The chestnut paste can be made 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it just cool, not hard-cold, before piping.
• •The meringue bases can be baked 1 day ahead and kept airtight at room temperature.
• •Assembled cakes are best eaten the day they are made, before the meringue softens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)