I’ve been wanting to make Mont Blanc for the longest time! – err, i do say this a lot huh?

But really.. Mont Blanc has been on my to-do-list for like more than a year, ever since i first ate it at Canelé. It was love at first mouth ;)

Not too long after that, i saw it at Aran‘s lovely blog. A recipe! Oh my.. what a coincident! However, getting chestnut puree wasn’t so easy at that time. Hmph! The funny thing is, i’ve never thought of making my very own chestnut puree… and even now, i still don’t (read : lazy!).

Sometime last week, a trip to Sun Lik changed it all.

They have chestnut puree all over the shop! Well, umm.. not quite all over but these lovely cans of puree were placed right at the front door… as though it was a sign, a sign for me to make Mont Blanc after all these years! I knew then, i gotta grab it no matter what… Whether i’ll bake it in the end is another story all together :P

Why, of course i would bake it!

For $25  (45oz of chestnut puree), i definitely will! I refuse to throw away my $$ like that, y’know ;)

Not only i baked 1 or 2, i actually double up the portion and made tons! There were 12 giant Mont Blanc and a 5″ x 9″ cake too! I was too greedy. In the end, i gave away more than 8 Mont Blanc to friends and family. But the cake, i kept… because i love that version better! ^_^

a very messy cross-section which did not intend for photography but can lah!

Having eaten and read many different version of Mont Blanc, i decided to make one that i think i’d fancy most. Because there were no such recipe for the version i wanted, i came up with my own.. well, almost. A little tweak here and there, slight adaption from up and down, well… this, is mine :)

Mont Blanc
chestnut cream and puree adapted from norecipe

for Genoise sponge cake
5 large eggs
140g caster sugar
150g top flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
120g butter, melted – slightly warm

note to self : good for a whole grey pan.

for chestnut puree
15 oz. can of pureed chestnut
1/2 C cream
1/2 C sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 vanilla bean

for chestnut cream
1 C heavy cream
3 Tbs powdered sugar
1/3 C chestnut puree

make the Genoise sponge cake

Combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla and whisk at the highest speed till soft peaks. Use a light scrapper and very lightly but quickly fold in the flour. Add in the butter and quickly fold in to incorporate well. Pour into the lined pan and bake till golden brown. When cake is done, invert on a cooling rack and remove lining.

make the chestnut puree
Slice the vanilla bean in half length wise and scrape the seeds into a small saucepan. Add the cream, sugar and whisk in the yolk. Heat over low heat,the pan off the heat and allow the vanilla bean to steep while the mixture cools.

When the mixture is cool, put it in a food processor along with the pureed chestnuts. Blitz until smooth and creamy. Put a spoonful of chestnut puree in the double mesh strainer over a bowl=”mont blanc” src=”http://www.maameemoomoo.com%2 and press through using a spatula. Strain the rest of the chestnut puree, cover and set aside.

make the chestnut cream
In the clean dry bowl of an electric mixer, add 1 C of heavy cream. Using the whisk attachment, beat until the cream holds soft peaks. Add the sugar and beat until the sugar is incorporated. Add 1/3 C of the strained chestnut puree and mix until the cream holds firm peaks being careful not to over mix.

to assemble

cut out the sponge to size and shape you fancy. using a round tip, pipe out a blob of cream and add the chestnut in. cover chestnut with more chestnut cream.

using the spaghetti tip, pipe the chestnut puree round and round till a dome shape is achieved.

ps : to make candied chestnut, peel, wash and cook till soft. then boil it again in syrup for at least 15 minutes.

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I dislike a base that is too thick or dry. I’ve tried Aran’s Sable Breton and i found it a little too drying for my liking hence Genoise Sponge Cake for my base. However, because i didn’t have a proper recipe, the Genoise Sponge cake i baked turned out too thin!

I should have poured the whole batter into 1 pan instead of dividing it between 2 pans. :(

Nevertheless, had i not made this fatal mistake of mine, i wouldn’t be able to come up with this cake version (anyhow, just to use up all the leftover cakes, chestnut puree and chestnut cream), which i prefer much better as mentioned earlier. :D

Note to self :

1. pipe more cream. be a little stingy on the puree… because strangely, the cream turned out to be everyone’s fav (myself included)!

2. do not forget to add 1-2 tbsp rum to chestnut puree. i think this will make a difference :)

3. do brush some rum syrup onto the genoise before piping anything on it, for extra ooomphh!

4. again, the genoise portion above is meant for 1 pan only. not 2!

5. ratio -  genoise (1) : puree (1.5-2) : cream (1)