Mont-BlancMont Blanc

Whip French meringue and pipe 2 discs 8 cm in diameter

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the oven preheats, put 1 L water in a covered saucepan over high heat to begin boiling for peeling the chestnuts. Once boiling, turn off the heat and leave covered.
• 2 Preheat the oven to 100°C and line a baking tray with parchment. Draw 2 circles, each 8 cm in diameter, in pencil on the reverse of the paper.
• 3 Put 60 g room-temperature egg whites, 3 ml lemon juice and 0.3 g salt in a bowl wiped completely free of grease and moisture. Beat with a hand mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then increase to medium once fine bubbles cover the mixture.
• 4 When the foam turns opaque white and starts to hold tracks, add 1/3 of the 60 g caster sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add the remainder in 2 further batches in the same way and beat on high speed for a total of 5–6 minutes.
• 5 Sift in 60 g icing sugar and fold from the bottom with a rubber spatula 20–25 times.
• 6 Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a 10 mm round nozzle. Pipe 2 discs in spirals from the center, following the drawn circles.
• 7 Pipe the remaining meringue into small mounds about 3 cm in diameter in the empty spaces on the tray.

Start baking the meringue and peel enough chestnuts for 140 g

• 1 MeanwhileWhile peeling the chestnuts, look into the oven every 30 minutes without opening the door to check that the meringue is not coloring.
• 2 Place the tray on the middle rack of the 100°C oven and start baking with a timer set for 90 minutes.
• 3 Put 200 g fresh chestnuts in a heatproof bowl, pour over enough of the prepared hot water to cover them and soak for 20 minutes. Keep the water remaining in the saucepan warm over low heat.
• 4 With a small knife, score a shallow cross in the outer shell, working from the flat base of each chestnut toward the top.
• 5 Bring the reserved warm water to a boil over high heat, add the scored chestnuts and boil for 5 minutes.
• 6 Remove 3–4 chestnuts at a time and, while hot, peel the outer shell from the cuts, then scrape away the inner skin with the knife tip. Keep the rest in the hot water to stay warm.
• 7 Put the peeled chestnuts in a bowl of water. When all are peeled, drain and weigh out 140 g net.

Precook the chestnuts in water for 30 minutes until soft enough to sieve

• 1 MeanwhileDuring the 30-minute precooking period, bring 15 g unsalted butter to room temperature until creamy and soft enough to indent easily with a finger.
• 2 MeanwhileDuring the same 30 minutes, check the elapsed meringue baking time and look through the oven door to make sure it is still white.
• 3 Put 140 g peeled chestnuts and 600 ml water in a saucepan over medium heat.
• 4 Once boiling, reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid slightly ajar and the surface barely moving.
• 5 Skim off the foam with a ladle 2–3 times.

Simmer in vanilla syrup to make syrup-cooked chestnuts

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the chestnuts cook in syrup, turn off the oven when the meringue has baked for 90 minutes. Leave the tray inside with the door closed to dry in the residual heat.
• 2 Split 1 vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Put half the seeds on a small plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for the Chantilly.
• 3 In a separate saucepan, combine 70 g granulated sugar, 70 ml water, the remaining half of the vanilla seeds and the pod. Heat over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves completely.
• 4 Once the syrup boils, lower the heat. Lift the 140 g precooked chestnuts from their water with a slotted ladle and gently arrange them in the syrup without overlapping.
• 5 Lay a circle of parchment cut to fit the saucepan directly on the liquid as a drop lid. Cook gently over low heat for 15 minutes with barely any surface movement, then turn off the heat.

Leave the chestnuts in their syrup for 30 minutes at room temperature

• 1 MeanwhileDuring the 30 minutes that the chestnuts cool, leave the meringue tray in the closed oven to continue drying in the residual heat.
• 2 MeanwhileDuring the same 30 minutes, chill the Chantilly bowl and whisk and 2 piping bags in the refrigerator.
• 3 Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes with the parchment lid in place.

Sieve the chestnuts to make the chestnut paste

• 1 MeanwhileWhile sieving the chestnuts and resting the paste, remove the baking tray once 60 minutes have passed since turning off the oven. Transfer the meringue discs to a rack and cool to room temperature.
• 2 MeanwhileAt the same time, clear the work surface and prepare 2 flat dessert plates for assembly.
• 3 Lift the chestnuts from the syrup with a slotted ladle and remove the vanilla pod. Leave the syrup in the saucepan.
• 4 Place 3–4 chestnuts at a time in a fine-mesh sieve or drum sieve and press through into a bowl with a scraper or wooden spoon.
• 5 Add 0.7 g salt to the sieved chestnuts. Work in 15 g softened unsalted butter with a rubber spatula in 3 additions and knead until uniform.
• 6 Work in 25 ml milk, adding 1 tsp at a time to adjust the firmness. If still too stiff, loosen with the reserved syrup 1 tsp at a time.
• 7 Add 10 ml dark rum in 2 additions and mix for 30 seconds until the aroma is distributed throughout.
• 8 Wrap the paste in plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Whip the Chantilly to stiff peaks

• 1 Pour 200 ml cold cream into the chilled bowl, sift in 20 g icing sugar and add the reserved vanilla seeds.
• 2 Set the bowl over ice water and whisk at a medium rhythm for 2–3 minutes, incorporating air.
• 3 Once thickening, lift the whisk every 10 seconds to check the consistency and stop when the peak stands straight.
• 4 Transfer 1/3 of the whipped Chantilly to a chilled piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and refrigerate the remaining cream in its bowl.

Assemble the 3 layers and cover with chestnut vermicelli

• 1 Prepare 2 flat dessert plates about 15 cm in diameter and place 1 cooled meringue disc in the center of each.
• 2 Spoon a generous mound of Chantilly onto each meringue and shape into a cone 6–7 cm high with a palette knife.
• 3 Pipe the bagged Chantilly all around the base of the cone to hide the join with the meringue.
• 4 Refrigerate the 2 assembled plates for 5 minutes to firm the mounds.
• 5 Put about 170 g chestnut paste in a piping bag fitted with a Mont Blanc nozzle with 3 mm holes for fine chestnut strands.
• 6 Rotate the plate while piping from the base toward the peak, as though winding thread around the chilled mound. Overlap 2–3 circuits to cover thickly enough that no white shows through.

Dust with icing sugar like snow and serve

• 1 Put 5 g icing sugar in a tea strainer and dust all the chestnut strands from 30 cm above the plate.
• 2 Carry the 2 finished plates straight to the table.