Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc finally! I have been planning to make this for quite sometime now but I couldn't make a perfect timing to buy the chestnuts. Last monday Pieter did the grocery and also bought 500 gm of raw chestnuts.
This tart/cake is named after the tallest mountain in Western Europe. Mont Blanc meaning "white mountain" and speaking of white mountain this was covered with powdered sugar but damn! the powdered sugar dissolved quickly. Making the chestnut puree from scratch was really tiring. 1st, I cut a cross into the skin of each chestnuts, steamed, (yes I steamed it because I was so lazy to use the oven) peeled away the tough outer shell and skin, pureed and then pressed through a very fine mesh strainer to make sure it doesn't have chunks of chestnuts. It was tiring indeed. Lucky you if you can find a can of pureed chestnut.

1st I used wilton 233 piping nozzle but it was too small and very messy. So I switched to small round tip. Piping was really fun but also gave me a painful hands because of pressure on the piping bag to squeeze the chestnut cream out. Oh well! as what they've said: no pain, no gain.

sable breton
128g plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
113g unsalted butter, softened
84g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks

• Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside for the moment.
• In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until it is soft and smooth. Add the sugar, followed by the salt, and continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix until paleand fluffy. Add the yolks and beat until blended. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Do not over mix the dough.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough a few times to bring it together. Form dough into a log (7.5 in diameter), wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm (at least an hour).
• Preheat the oven to 165C. Unwrap log and, using a sharp knife, slice the log into 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick cookies (depending how thick you want) Place each slice inside mousse ring or crumpet ring (if you have). Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are just firm.

• Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

chestnut cream (adapted from No Recipes)
350g chestnut puree
1/3 C cream
1/3 C sugar
1 tbsp rum
1 large egg yolk
1 vanilla bean

• 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, continually stirring until the mixture 
• begins to thicken. Take the pan off the heat and allow the vanilla bean to steep while the mixture cools.
• When the mixture is cool, remove the vanilla. put the mixture in a food processor along with the pureed chestnuts and rum. Blitz until smooth and creamy. Put a spoonful of chestnut cream in the double mesh strainer over a bowl and press through using a spatula. Strain the rest of the cream, cover and set aside.

creme chantilly