Mont Blancs Recipes

Steps:

• Using a small paring knife, cut an X into one side of each chestnut. Fill a saucepan with water; add chestnuts and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove 2 or 3 at a time from water; remove the outer shells. Peel and scrape off inner skins.
• Combine nuts, milk, 3/4 cup sugar, butter, and vanilla bean and scrapings in a saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until tender and falling apart, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain, reserving milk. Remove vanilla bean; set nuts aside to cool.
• Pass chestnuts through a food mill into a bowl. Stir in rum and 5 to 6 tablespoons of the reserved milk until well combined. Place 1/3 cup of chestnut mixture in a potato ricer fitted with large hole blade. Press and squeeze strands of the mixture into bowls. It should look like a small mound of spaghetti. Repeat with remaining mixture.
• Whip cream with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe out cream covering the exposed surface. Dust with cocoa, and serve.

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 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.