The Mont Blanc

It is a cake of French origin based on sweet chestnut purée and whipped cream or a coconut cake of Caribbean origin.

The first consists of a base of meringue, sometimes replaced by a cake base like a sponge cake, topped with whipped cream, covered with a brown cream sifted to form vermicelli, all sprinkled with icing sugar.it is, most often a small individual cake.

This dessert is popular in France, Switzerland, Italy, China, Japan, Hungary and northern Romania.

The second is a sponge cake stuffed with coconut cream and covered with grated coconut, which can be made several parts.It is popular in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and Metropolitan France.

Mont Blanc and its origins

Pastry takes its name from the largest mountain in Europe located in the Alps and is called in different ways depending on the country or region.

In Alsace, it is called "the chestnut torch" while in Italy, it is simply translated "Monto Blanco".

If dessert is very popular in France, it would be first of all in Italy that it was discovered at the end of the 15th century.Mont Blanc arrived in France two centuries later, around 1620.
Mont-Blanc is the winter pastry par excellence, Mont-Blanc is the new sweetness that is offered to warm up, with a good tea or a hot chocolate.

The success of Mont Blanc is such that manufacturing techniques have changed to produce in large numbers.
A machine was invented to reconstruct the handmade gesture of the pocket that lays the cream of brown.

For the great pastry chefs who created their own signs, everyone reappropriates the dessert to make a personalized creation.

Recipe

Ingredients

For the meringues
• Egg white 4 each, room temperature
• Salt 0,6 g
• Cream of tartar 0,4 g
• Sugar 185 g
• Vanilla 3,75 ml
For the chestnut purée
• Chestnuts 1,4 kg, fresh or 1-880 g can chestnut purée
• Vanilla pod 1
• Water 175 ml
• Sugar 65 g
For the cream
• Whipping cream 350 ml
• Sugar 12 to 25 g
• Vanilla 5 ml
• Egg white 1, room temperature

Meringues

Start preheating the oven to 120°C.
Grease a baking sheet, sprinkle with flour, and mark one 23 cm circle or ten 9 cm circles.
In large bowl, beat egg whites with salt until foamy.
Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
Beat in 25 g sugar until mixture holds long, stiff peaks when beater is lifted.
Fold in remaining sugar and vanilla.
Place in pastry bag fitted with 1,25 cm plain tube and pipe 1 large round or 10 small ones onto prepared sheet.
Bake 1 hour or until meringue is firm to the touch.
If meringues brown during baking, reduce heat.
Transfer meringues to rack and let cool.

Chestnut puree

Peel chestnuts using small, sharp knife and leaving inner skin.
Preheat oven to 190°C.
Place chestnuts in shallow heatproof dish and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until skin dries and peels off easily.
Rub nuts in rough cloth to remove skins.
Place peeled nuts in saucepan with vanilla bean and water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, or until very tender.
Remove vanilla bean.
Drain chestnuts, then put through food mill or sieve, or in food processor, and purée.
Briefly boil together 175 ml water and sugar to make thin sugar syrup, then set aside to cool.
When cool, beat enough syrup into chestnut puree to make it thin enough to pipe through pastry bag but still thick enough to hold its shape.
If using canned puree, sweeten to taste, making sure it is thin enough to be piped.
Fit pastry bag with 0,3 cm plain tube and fill with purée.

Cream

Beat cream until stiff, and then add sugar to taste and vanilla.
Beat egg white in separate bowl until stiff peaks form, and then fold into cream.
Place cream mixture into pastry bag fitted with star tip.
Arrange meringues on serving platter and pipe chestnut puree in bird's nest shape around edge of meringue.
Sprinkle icing sugar on the Mont Blanc and chill until serving time.

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