Mont Blancs Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C).
• Score the chestnuts in a cross with a knife.
• Place the chestnuts on a sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the chestnuts with a towel, and quickly peel the warm chestnuts.
• Put the peeled chestnuts in a pan and add water, sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Cook and stir the chestnut on high heat until the water has evaporated and chestnuts has softened, about 15 minutes.
• Place the chestnut filling in a food processor, add in water and blend until smooth.
• Push the chestnut filling through an sieve into another bowl.
• Transfer filling to a piping bag with a circle tip and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 200˚F (90˚C).
• In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy using a hand mixer.
• Add sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peak forms.
• Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a circle tip and pipe the meringue in a swirling motion onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
• Bake the meringue for 1 hour.
• Get the pie crust, and cut small circles to serve as the bottom for the meringue and bake for 30 minutes
• Place the meringue on top of the pie crust and pipe the whipped cream around it. Pipe the chestnut cream around the whipped cream.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• For the hazelnut sugar crust: Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter, all-purpose and hazelnut flours, turbinado sugar, baking powder, salt and egg until just combined. Roll thin between 2 pieces of parchment paper or on a silicone mat. Cut into 1-inch rounds and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.
• For the sacher sponge cake: Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the almond paste and confectioners' sugar for about 1 minute. Slowly add the egg yolks until well combined. Add the cocoa powder and flour and mix until combined. Add the melted butter and mix until combined.
• In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites and granulated sugar using the whip attachment until they hold stiff peaks; fold into the cocoa mixture. Spread in a 9-by-13- inch pan and bake until the cake is lightly golden and springs back to the touch, about 12 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, cut rounds slightly smaller than the base of the hazelnut sugar crust rounds.
• For the blackberry cream: Soak the sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water, making sure they are completely covered, 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the blackberry puree, butter, eggs and sugar until it registers 194 degrees F on a candy thermometer, then immediately remove from the heat. Whip the heavy cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
• Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and add the gelatin to the warm blackberry mixture, stirring to dissolve. Let cool to 90 degrees F, then fold in the whipped cream. Transfer to a pastry bag and pipe into small, round silicone molds. Place a hazelnut crust on top of each. (It should be smaller than the base of the cream to fit just inside the mold.)
• For the chestnut cream: Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Combine the milk, egg yolks and granulated sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until it registers 165 degrees F and is thickened slightly. (Be careful not to exceed 165 degrees F or the custard may curdle.)
• Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and add those sheets to the custard, stirring to dissolve. Add to a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, then add the chestnut paste and cream and mix until combined. Chill, then transfer to a pastry bag.
• Unmold the blackberry domes and place them on top of the sacher sponge rounds. Pipe chestnut cream on top of the blackberry domes. Place toasted hazelnuts and chopped chestnuts on top and serve.

Steps:

• For the meringues: Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Whip the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form, and then add the vanilla and continue beating to form stiff peaks. Stir the cream of tartar into the regular sugar and slowly add to the egg whites, while beating, until the meringue is stiff and the sugar has dissolved.
• Sift together the icing sugar and cornstarch over the meringue batter, gently folding until fully blended. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a standard nozzle. Pipe the meringue into 6 peaks on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet.
• For assembling: Place a small amount of whipped cream at the bottom of each tart shell, and then place a meringue on top. Top each meringue with a dribble of rosehip jam and a touch of whipped cream. Transfer the chestnut cream to a piping bag fitted with the Mont Blanc nozzle and pipe it on top of the meringues to cover them well. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a few candied chestnuts.
• Refrigerate until 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Trim the tops off the mini meringues. Softly whip the double cream with the icing sugar and divide this between the meringues. Top each with ½ tsp sweetened chestnut purée and dust with icing sugar before serving.