Mont Blanc, Sweet Chestnut desserts: Finally I did it!

 Finally I did it, after many time of wanting to make and many cans of Crème de marrons that turned into many different things but Mont Blanc ^^.

 There are many recipes for this simple sweet, but most of all the Mont Blanc always contains chestnut. This time, the Mont Blanc is the request from my sister. She said that she really want to eat it and asked me why I never made it before? So, I had to make it, and from the reason that there are too many recipes to choose from, I need to find the one that I can trust.
And I know the answer, the book  一流パティシエといっしょに美味しいケーキを作りたい (別冊家庭画報), by 河田 勝彦 (Katsuhiko Kawata)(I wrote about it before you can see it here) that I love to use because most of the recipe are small enough to make at home (and after using many recipes from this book, I'm always happy with the result).
This Mont Blanc contains 4 parts, first the almond meringue, second the marrons cream, third the Crème Chantilly, and the last part Crème Marron Chantilly. 

I know that you will say that "Oh! There are a lot of work to do", but it's not. All you have to do is waiting, haha. Because the meringue needs a little time to whip it and the rest is just baking it. 

The only difficulty for me is the topping, it's not easy to make neat piping work from something so soft like Crème Marron Chantilly. First I tried to use the Mont blanc piping nozzle (the one with small multi-opening tips), and the result is, well very messy, -*-.

So I change into a small tip, and it's better, I can pipe it neatly and I think it's great for the Mont Blanc beginner like me, hehe.

Anyway, the Mont Blanc is quite sweet (in a delicious way), so I suggest you to serve it with something bitter like a cup of tea or coffee, and you will be able to enjoy it more than one piece, ^^.

Adaptation from: 一流パティシエといっしょに美味しいケーキを作りたい (別冊家庭画報) by 河田 勝彦 (Katsuhiko Kawata)

Mont Blanc 

Makes 16-20 small pieces

Almond Meringue
50g .................................. Egg whites
5g .................................... Sugar (1)
32g .................................. Icing sugar
22g .................................. Sugar (2)
* TPT
- 15g .............................. Almond powder
- 15g .............................. Icing sugar


Marrons cream (chestnut cream)
*Italian meringue
-30g ................................ Egg whites
-60g ................................ Sugar
-20g ................................ Water
You will need only 15g of Italian meringue for the cream
100g ................................ Marrons paste 
40g .................................. Unsalted butter, soft
15g ................................... Milk
10g ................................... Dark rum


Crème Chantilly
250g ................................ Whipping cream
25g ................................... Sugar


Crème Marron Chantilly
180g ................................. Crème de marrons
160g ................................. Whipping cream


Make the almond meringue:

Preheat the oven to 160°C. 

Line baking sheet with baking paper.

Sift TPT. (the almond powder and icing sugar) together, set aside.

 Whip egg whites with sugar(1) until foamy, add the icing sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

 Add the sugar (2) and the TPT, and fold to combine.

 Pipe into 5 cm disks and bake for 40 minutes.
Take the meringue out of the oven and let cool completely.


Make the Marrons cream (chestnut cream):


-Make the Italian meringue, follow the method here.

 Mix the chestnut paste with butter, rum and milk until smooth.
Fold 15g of Italian meringue into chestnut mixture. 

 Pipe the cream on top of the almond meringue.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
Make the Crème Chantilly:

 Whip the whipping cream with sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the whipped cream over the top of chestnut cream and meringue to make dome shape. 
Refrigerate for 1 hour.


Make the Crème Marron Chantilly:

Whip the whipping cream until ribbon stage.
Fold the whipped cream into the Crème de marrons until combine.
Put the cream into piping bag fit with 3mm nozzle, and pipe the cream over the  Crème Chantilly.
Refrigerate until ready to serve, and enjoy ^^.

Mont Blanc, Sweet Chestnut desserts: 

Finally I did it!