This Mont Blanc Baked Alaska is a very easy but quite spectacular Christmas dessert. It is my take on Mont Blanc, a traditional Christmas dessert from France which is basically meringue, sweetened chestnut puree, grated chocolate and cream. I make a Baked Alaska using meringue and sweetened chestnut puree instead of the usual sponge cake and fruit.
Easy Mont Blanc Baked Alaska
This impressive dessert is very easy to make, especially if you use a shop bought meringue case and some ready made sweetened chestnut puree. It can be assembled earlier and stored in the freezer until you are ready to cook and serve it.
Sweetened Chestnut Puree
You used to be able to buy tins of sweetened chestnut puree from France in supermarkets in the UK at Christmas but for the last few years these I haven’t been able to find them – you can find them online of course. I used two 200 gram packs of unsweetened chestnut puree from Merchant Gourmet which I found in a local supermarket and added icing sugar, double cream and vanilla extract to it to make the sweetened chestnut puree.
If you want to make your own chestnut puree Nigella Lawson has a recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess and as well as a traditional Mont Blanc Dessert recipe, Aysegul Sanford also has a Chestnut Puree recipe on her website.
Mont Blanc Baked Alaska
Please note: If you use a shop bought meringue base then the cooking time will be about 4 minutes.
10
servings45
minutes1
hourIngredients
- Meringue base
4 egg whites from large eggs
8 ounces / 225 grams / 1 cup sugar
- Meringue topping
4 egg whites from large eggs
8 ounces / 225 grams / 1 cup sugar
- Filling
2 ounces / 55 grams / ¼ cup of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of double cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
14 ounces / 400 grams / 1 ¾ cups sweetened chestnut puree (Note: make sure to read the Sweetened Chestnut Puree section.)
2 ounces / 55 grams / ¼ cup plain chocolate grated
- Finish
Approximately 1 ½ litres of vanilla ice cream – I had a 2 litre carton and had some left.
The meringue topping you set aside earlier.
Directions
- How to make the meringue base (If you are short of time then you can buy a ready made meringue case).
- Whip the egg whites until stiff.
- Beat in the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is thick and shiny.
- Rub a little of the meringue between your fingers. If it feels gritty continue to beat as the sugar has not completely dissolved. It should feel smooth and silky.
- Draw a 8 inch / 21 cm circle onto baking parchment lining a baking tray.
- Spread the meringue evenly over the circle with a slightly raised rim around the edge.
- Bake for 1 hour in a pre-heated oven 150°C / 130°C Fan / 300°F / Gas Mark 3.
- Leave in the oven until cold.
- Store in an airtight tin until needed.
- How to make the meringue topping
- Beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating each addition in well.
- When the meringue feels smooth and silky and is slightly shiny in appearance, cover the bowl with a plate and set aside for the finish.
- Create and assemble the filling
- Place your meringue base on an ovenproof plate if you have one large enough. I didn’t so I covered my baking tray with foil and used it as my serving dish.
- Add the icing sugar, double cream and vanilla extract to your unsweetened chestnut puree.
- Spread the sweetened chestnut puree over the meringue base up to the raised edge.
- Sprinkle over a layer of grated chocolate.
- To finish
- Pile on the ice cream in a rough mound.
- Spread the meringue topping evenly completely over the meringue base and filling making sure there are no gaps.
- Place in the freezer until you are ready to bake it. It only takes a few minutes to cook so this will be shortly before you serve it.
- To cook
- Pre-heat your oven to 230°C / 210°C Fan / 450°F / Gas Mark 8.
- Remove from the freezer and bake immediately for about 4 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
Serving Mont Blanc Baked Alaska
I scattered some chopped marron glacé and grated chocolate over my ‘Alaska’ but any decoration must be very quick as you really need to serve it ASAP!
I’m very much in experimental mode here – please do let me know what you think in the comments and in particular if you do make it tell me how it turned out.
Happy Baking!
Tanya
