Mont Blanc Dessert Cups

Have you tasted Mont Blanc (the dessert, not the mountain)? It's absolutely delicious: with nutty chestnut paste and soft whipped cream. It's originally a French dessert but yet again the Japanese have perfected it (at least to my knowledge). The first time I encountered this dessert was probably in a cafe or a depachika (food area of a department store located downstairs. If you haven't visited one, you have to promise me to do it on your next trip to Japan!). After seeing one I was curious to try it because of its form (those high towering piles of spaghetti-like strips). And since I had tasted an all-things-chestnut-filled crepe on our latest trip to Harajuku one beautiful autumn night, I had an appetite for all-things-chestnutty. So when I had a chance I ordered it at a cafe somewhere near Odaiba (I think it was that one occasion when I had lost my jacket at a student party and had arranged a meeting to pick it later up. I was ahead of my schedule, so I thought of spending it at this one cafe (not ChocoCro, maybe, ...) I saw by the bridge just before Odaiba. It's funny how some details are lost in time. But I remember after seeing they had Mont Blancs on display, I had to have a taste. And so I ate that Mont Blanc with black coffee and gosh it was delicious...

My version doesn't look as fancy but is more like a home version of the dessert. You don't even need cookies or meringue, if you don't have them. You can just pipe cream and chestnut cream on a cup or a glass. So easy and delicious! I topped mine with a small dollop of cream to make it resemble the snowy cap of Mont Blanc. The fine pastries in Japan have usually some chestnut decoration on top.

If I ever go to Paris, I want to have a taste of this to compare it to the Japanese ones.

I recommend using vacuum-packed chestnuts instead of fresh ones as the peeling of fresh ones is quite a tough job. The ones conserved in jars are usually too watery and chestnut pastes are usually sweetened, which make them too sweet for this dessert.

Mont Blanc Dessert Cups
Author: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Preparation Time: 30 min     Cooking time: 5 min
Servings: 4     Calories per serving*: 320 kcal

This simple dessert with nutty chestnut paste and soft whipped cream is absolute lovely! I've simplified the pastry version: these cups are a lot easier to make! You could skip the piping too. They will taste delicious anyway!

Ingredients:

• 200 g vacuum-packed or peeled chestnuts
• 50 g water
• 30 g sugar
• 100 g water
• 2 Tbsp rum or punsch
• 200 g heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Boil the chestnuts in 50(-100) g water for a few minutes. (If using fresh, peeled chestnuts, you need to cook them longer and probably need more water.) Drain the liquid (don't discard it).
2. Make a sugar syrup by boiling 30 g sugar in 100 g water until dissolved.
3. Puree the chestnuts and add the sugar syrup. You might also have to add the liquid you used for boiling the chestnuts (but it depends on the dryness of the chestnuts).
4. Push the puree through a fine mesh sieve so that you get a very even, silky mass (if the mass has even tiny bits of chestnut, it will be difficult/impossible to pipe).
5. Add rum or punsch to the chestnut puree and let it cool in the fridge.
6. Whip the cream to soft peak stage. Fold about half of the whipped cream into the cooled chestnut puree to make a mass that's quite light but will still hold its shape when piped.
7. Pipe the rest of the cream onto mounds on serving cups/plates (save a little for decoration) and then pipe the chestnut cream as "spaghetti" strands circling the cream mounds. Decorate with a little dollop of whipped cream to serve as the mountain's "snow cap".

Adapted from Cookpad.
*Nutritional information is based on average values and is a rough estimate.

Mont Blanc -jälkiruokakupit
Tekijä: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Valmisteluaika: 30 min    Kypsennysaika: 5 min
Annokset: 4    Energiasisältö per annos*: 320 kcal

Suosittelen käyttämään vakuumipakattuja kastanjoita tuoreiden sijaan, mikäli löydät niitä jostain. Tuoreiden kuoriminen on nimittäin todella työlästä ainakin omien kokemusteni mukaan. Tölkkikastanjat ovat taas oman kokemukseni mukaan liian vetisiä tähän. Valmiit kastanjasoseet taas ovat usein hyvin makeita, joten nekään eivät välttämättä sovellu.

Ainekset:

• 200 g vakuumipakattuja kastanjoita (tai riittävästi tuoreita kastanjoita, jotta kuorimisen jälkeen on jäljellä 200 g kastanjaa. Nämä pitää myös keittää, mutta isommassa vesimäärässä.)
• 50 g vettä
• 30 g sokeria
• 100 g vettä
• 2 rkl rommia tai punssia
• 200 g kuohukermaa

Valmistusohjeet:

1. Keitä kastanjoita 50(-100) ml:ssa vettä muutaman minuutin ajan, että ne hieman pehmenevät. (Jos käytät tuoreita, kuorittuja kastanjoita, saatat tarvita enemmän vettä, jotta kastanjat kypsyvät.) Kaada keitinvesi talteen.
2. Tee sokerisiirappi kiehauttamalla 30 g sokeria 100 ml:ssa vettä, kunnes sokeri on liuennut.
3. Soseuta kastanjat ja lisää samalla sokerisiirappia. Jos massa on kovin kuivaa, lisää keitinvettä.
4. Painele sose tiheän metallisiivilän läpi (jos soseeseen jää pieniäkin kastanjapaloja, sen pursotus ei onnistu, ainakaan kovin helposti).
5. Lisää rommi tai punssi ja anna soseen jäähtyä jääkaapissa.
6. Vatkaa kerma pehmeiksi huipuiksi. Kääntele kermasta hieman alle puolet jäähtyneeseen kastanjasoseeseen. Kastanjakerman tulisi olla pursotettavan kiinteää, mutta kuitenkin kevyehköä.
7. Pursota loput kermavaahdosta kasoiksi lautasille tai kuppeihin (säästä hieman koristeluun). Sitten pursota "reikätyllalla" kastanjakerma spagetiksi kasojen ympärille ja päälle. Koristele pienellä "lumihuippu" -kermanokareella.

Lähde: Cookpad
*Energiasisältö perustuu keskimääräisiin arvoihin.

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