Christmas Calendar 2017 - Mont Blanc tarts

For my annual Christmas Coffee I have been remaking these Mont Blanc tarts, which I learned to make at the course in Christmas afternoon tea.

These Mont Blanc tarts are composed of various elements such as tart dough in form of flaky pastry, candied pecans, filling of chestnut and finally some vanilla flavour whipped cream, so what not to like ??

Mont Blanc tarts:  - 6-8 tarts

• Flaky pastry:
• 200 g plain wheat (cake) flour
• 120 g butter - cold, cut into 1 cm dices
• 30 g sugar
• ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoon ice-cold water
• Candied pecans:
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon liquid glucose syrup
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 120 g pecan halves
• 1/8 teaspoon flaky sea salt
• Filling:
• 60 g dark chocolate
• 320 g sweetened chestnut spread
• icing sugar for sweetening of the chestnut spread
• Vanilla whipped cream:
• 200 g dairy whipping cream, 35-40% fat
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon cognac

1. Add the flour, butter and butter into a medium size mixing bowl. Rub it together using only the finger tips and not the palms. Run it until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
2. Add in the water and vinegar, mix the dough very fast into a homogeneous mass.
3. Form the dough into a ball, which is covered in cling film and place in the refrigerator for minimum 1 hour or up to 3 days.
4. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, if it has been in the refrigerator for more than a few hours. Place smaller portions of the dough on the kitchen tabletop, which has been lightly floured. 
5. Roll out the dough to a height of 3 mm, and cut out circle of 14 cm. The dough should only the rooled out 3 times in total.
6. Cover the tart forms (8-9 cm)  with the dough, gently press the pasty dough into the corners of the tart forms.
7. Place the tart forms in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
8. Cover the dough in the tart forms with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.
9. Heat up the oven to 200'C.
10. Bake the dough blind at 200'C for 18 minutes.
11. Removed the baking parchment and baking beans and bake for another 8 minutes at 200'C, until the tarts are golden brown.
12. Remove from the oven, and the let the tarts cold down, before they are removed from the tart forms.
13. Meanwhile increase the oven temperature to 210'C
14. Cover a baking tray with baking parchment.
15. Add the maple syrup, glucose syrup and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar has melted, when add the salt and the pecans. Stir until the pecans are covered in syrup.
16. Place the pecans on the baking tray.
17. Bake the pecans in the oven at 210'C for approx 8 minutes, or until the syrup is bubbling around the pecans.
18. Remove the pecans from the oven, and let the pecans cold down completely.
19. Melt the chocolate. Glaze the inside of the tarts with chocolate. 
20. Set aside form 30 minutes, so the chocolate is stiff.
21. Sweetened the chestnut spread with icing sugar to desired sweetness level.
22. Fill up the tart with sweetened chestnut spread. Set aside.
23. Whip the dairy cream, icing sugar, vanilla extract and cognac into whipped cream.
24. Top up with the whipped cream on top of the chestnut spread, so it form a top. Cover the top with candied pecans.
25. Serve :-)