To welcome in 2021, I decided to resurrect a dessert recipe that we have not made for years - Hungarian Chestnut Purée. For years, this was a traditional dessert on Xmas Eve - though not to everyone’s taste - which was fine - more for those who loved it. I was reminded of this when friend and fellow blogger Maria posted how to roast chestnuts and turn them into a purée. Maria is Italian. I’m thinking - wait a sec - this is a Hungarian dessert!
Wikipedia describes it as Mont Blanc - a French word - but claims the roots are 19th-century Piedmont, Italy - a dish called Monte Bianco. (Even Martha Stewart makes it.) The name? Comes from the custom of topping the dessert with whipped cream, thus resembling a mountain. Maria serves it up simply in a mound.
The Hungarian custom is to push it through a ricer resulting in a vermicelli-like appearance. The fact that this approach also makes it look like worms may or may not affect how much it might appeal to kiddies. Mind you, it is flavoured with real rum, intended as an adult dessert.
So Maria’s heritage gets creds, but it seems that “Mont Blanc” is popular in France, Italy, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland, Hungary, and northwestern Romania.
(Interesting that in Hungary the chestnut purée is sold in a “brick” like cream cheese.)
Despite the Italian roots, Politico New York credits Hungarian restaurants for popularizing it on this side of the Atlantic. Their article on “lost foods” bemoans the fact that the dessert that “once delighted diners in the Hungarian restaurants that crowded the city’s Upper East Side” had all but disappeared by the 1980s as Hungarian restaurants slowly closed. (Sidenote: I often ponder how there can today be such an explosion of multicultural eateries and yet no Hungarian restaurants.)
We never used a precise recipe to make this. Even the iconic Georges Lang, restaurateur and food writer did not include a recipe for this in his classic Cuisine of Hungary cookbook.
For the sake of this record, I paid attention to what we did to achieve the desired result - soft, but not too soft texture, light colour, and delicate additions of sugar and rum that do not mask the nutty flavour of the chestnuts. You may find some online recipes that add cocoa powder - I don’t advise that. Some also add a bit of vanilla - ok, I guess but we don’t.
What you need:
1 can of chestnut purée (approx 29-31 oz or 860 ml)
We always made this from a canned puréed chestnut product from Germany. The brand disappeared for a while and another trigger for resurrecting this for NYE 2020/21 was that we found some canned purée - made in Hungary!! Do not use the Frech product sold in jars and small cans called “Creme de Marrons de l'Ardèche” SPREAD. This is too dark and is more like a jam. That company does have a puree more suited to this recipe.
Note that this purée is already sweetened a bit so take care when it comes to adding more icing sugar.
Sweet Rum - approx 5-6 TB - to taste
Years ago we were able to buy a German product called Rhum Punch; since that became impossible to find we have sought out other sweet rums and have used Planter’s Punch or Kraken Black Spiced Rum. Dr. Oetker’s rum extract can also be used or combined with real rum.
2 cups whipping cream (473 ml container is fine)
Standing mixer
Step 1. Whip up half of the whipping cream in the small bowl of your mixer and set it aside
Step 2. Dump the contents of the can into the large bowl of your mixer. It will be a bit dark and fairly dense. Break it up with a spoon, fork or some such thing, then turn the mixer to low and continue breaking it up. Gradually add the cup of whipping cream that was not beaten in step 1., alternating with the addition of rum (to taste). Add a bit of icing sugar (optional - we do add about 2 TB.) In a perfect world, you want the mixture to be smooth with no lumps. Gently fold in the beaten whipping cream. All done.
How to Serve
Google ‘Chestnut Mont Blanc’ for classic serving ideas.
I do not use a ricer to produce the “vermicelli” look - rather a star tip on an icing piping bag/tool.
Optional: a wee bit of chocolate sauce in the bottom of the serving dish.
Pipe in the chestnut mixture. At this point, you could cover the dish with plastic wrap until serving time.
At the moment of serving top with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
Need a chocolate sauce recipe? I make this Chocolate Brandy Sauce - keeps in the fridge for ages - but bring it to room temperature - before using it as a drizzle. Worse case, add a bit of whipping cream to thin out the sauce if you want it to be more runny.
P.S. This Sour Cherry Chestnut Cake looks like it could be another winner use of purée.
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