Mont Blanc

This dessert is a fragile mound of sweetened vanilla-scented chestnut puree, put through a potato ricer and topped with whipped cream (hence, Mont Blanc). It’s an Old-World favorite meant to be eaten with tiny silver spoons.

The best way to form the mounds is to let them fall from the ricer right onto individual serving plates. If you don’t have a ricer, you can push the chestnut puree through the holes of a colander; a food mill with large holes also works, though not as well.