With fall and the holidays coming, chestnuts just add that warming touch. We are excited to share a recipe by Lillian Yang, The Chef Charette, her Moto Mont Blanc Cake. If you're looking for a smooth and creamy cake recipe perfect for fall and winter, the Moto Mont Blanc Cake is it!
Lillian originally created this cake recipe for a former Japanese coworker, whom she had a big crush on back in the day. Inspired by his favorite cake, the Mont Blanc, and after multiple trials and errors, Lillian perfected the cake including the Marron chantilly. If you want to know more about the background of the recipe, check out Lillian's interview and the original recipe on her website.
Sponge Cake
Ingredients
1 and 1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of cake flour
2 tsp of baking powder
4 large eggs
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
1 cup of whole milk
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (170 C) and spray a standard muffin tin with oil.
Sift together 2 cups of cake flour with the 2 teaspoons baking powder into a medium bowl.
Heat one cup of milk in a small saucepan until it almost boils and remove from the heat.
Beat the 4 large eggs in a large metal bowl until foamy, then add the 1 1/2 cup of sugar. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until the batter is thick. Add one teaspoon of vanilla and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Pour the hot milk in a steady stream and quickly beat in the flour mixture.
Fill each muffin cup until 2/3 full and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick can be pulled out clean. Remove from oven and let the cakes sit for 1-2 hours until it cools to room temperature.
Level off the tops of the sponge cake by turning each cake to its side and slicing the tops off with a bread knife. Using a melon baller (or spoon), scoop out the center of the sponge cake. Slice a candied chestnut in half and place the halved chestnut on the carved-out center.
Creme Chantilly
Ingredients
1 cup of heavy whipping cream (47% butterfat, chilled)
1 tbsp of confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla
1 cup of creme de marrons
Directions
To make the cream chantilly, mix all the 1 cup of 47% heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a metal bowl with a stand or electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Attach the pastry bag with a 3mm tip. Fill the pastry bag with the cream chantilly filling and pipe out the cream chantilly over the chestnut center. Cover and set the cakes in a refrigerator for at least 1 hour until the cream chantilly sets. Remove cakes from the fridge when ready to prepare the marrons pastry cream.
Marron Chantilly
Ingredients
1 cup of creme de marrons
1 cup of pate de marrons
1 tsp of rum
2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream (35% butterfat, chilled)
(Optional) Edible gold flakes
(Optional) Confectioner's sugar
Directions
To make the marrons chantilly, mix the 1 cup of creme de marrons, 1 cup pate de marrons, 1 teaspoon of rum, and 2 tablespoons of 35% heavy whipping cream in a metal bowl with a stand or electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. If needed, add more rum or heavy whipping cream in small increments to make the right consistency for piping.
Attach the pastry bag with a Mont Blanc tip. Fill the pastry bag with the marron chantilly and slowly pipe out the marrons chantilly starting from the center, out clockwise. Garnish with optional toppings like edible gold powder or confectioners sugar. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes until serving.
Special Equipment
Standard sized muffin tin
Pastry bag
3 mm pastry tip
Mont Blanc pastry tip
Electric / hand mixer
Melon baller
Chef's Notes
If you don’t have a muffin tin, you can bake the sponge cake with an 8″ cake tin and cut it out with 2.5″ cookie cutters.
It is best to mix with an electric mixer so that the consistency is smooth and the whipping cream is at its right consistency or else it won’t pipe well.
Creme de marrons and chestnut paste can be found at Tomizawa. You can also find these marron ingredients in specialty ingredients stores or websites like Amazon.
Lillian Yang is the blogger and chefitect behind The Chef Charette, a blog filled with beautiful delicious recipes and simple diagrams to guide you each step of the way. You can keep up to date with Lillian @thechefcharette on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.