Mont Blanc Tart: Step-by-Step French Chestnut Dessert for Christmas

Chestnuts everywhere

Desserts ·
4 hours
·
8 tarts
Posted on . by

This year, my Christmas looks a little different—I’ll be working in the kitchen, which is just part of the bittersweet reality of this job, especially in hotels that are open 365 days a year. To keep the holiday spirit alive, I decided to make a few classic Christmas desserts, starting with this French Mont Blanc.

Mont Blanc is a traditional French dessert created by the famous Angelina pâtisserie in Paris. It’s made with chestnuts, meringue, and light chantilly cream, and its shape is inspired by the Mont Blanc mountain, finished with a dusting of icing sugar to look like snow. Rich, nostalgic, and very wintery—quite the opposite of Christmas in Chile, where summer desserts like ice cream are the norm.

After a recent trip to Paris, where every pastry shop had its own Mont Blanc, and the smell of roasted chestnuts filled the streets, I knew I had to recreate it at home. If you are up for a fun Christmas challenge, I recommend this tart. I won’t lie, it has several components and requires a special nozzle for the classic finish—but the result is absolutely worth it.

Ingredients

Almond Sablé Tart Base

Chestnut Frangipane

Pastry Crem

Chestnut Pastry Cream (Recipe of Cedric Grolet)

Mandarin Compote

Italian Meringue

Chestnuts cream for the outside (modified recipe from Pierre Hermé)

Method

Almond Sablé

  • Mix the butter with the flour, sugar, and almond flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and mix gently, without overworking the dough. Add the salt.

  • Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

    Roll out the chilled dough and line 8 cm tart rings. Bake at 170°C (338°F) for 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Set aside.

Chestnut Frangipane

  • Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the ground almonds, then the eggs, mixing until fully incorporated. Fold in the chestnut paste.

  • Pipe or spread the frangipane into the blind-baked tart shells.

    Bake at 170°C (338°F) for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool.

Pastry Cream

Chestnut Pastry Cream

  • Prepare a classic pastry cream, adding the gelatin at the end while still warm. Stir in the chestnut cream and chestnut paste until smooth. Pipe the cream into the tart shells, filling them to the top. Chill until set.

Mandarin Compot

  • Heat the mandarin purée until it comes to a boil. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the pectin. Hydrate the gelatin in very cold water.

    Once boiling, add the sugar–pectin mixture to the purée and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

    Remove from heat and add the drained gelatin, squeezing the extra water.

  • Pour into silicone semi-sphere moulds and freeze for at least 1 hour.

Italian Meringue

  • Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan.

    When the syrup reaches 100°C (212°F), begin whipping the egg whites.

  • Once the syrup reaches 118°C (244°F), slowly pour it into the whipped egg whites while whisking continuously.

    Increase the mixer speed and whip until the meringue is glossy and reaches room temperature.

Chestnut Cream for the exterior

  • Gently mix the chestnut-based creams in the order listed, taking care not to overmix.

    Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Mont Blanc nozzle.

    Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembly

    • Place the frozen mandarin insert on top of the chestnut pastry cream.

    • Using a plain nozzle, pipe more pastry cream to cover the insert completely.

    • Pipe the Italian meringue, shaping it like a Mont Blanc.

    • Refrigerate while repeating the process with the remaining tarts.

    • Using a turntable and the Mont Blanc nozzle, pipe the chestnut cream over the exterior.

    • Finish with a light dusting of icing sugar. Enjoy!

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