Cédric Grolet’s Christmas tribute to the chestnut

To celebrate the end of the year, Cédric Grolet, pastry chef at the Parisian hotel Le Meurice, returns to the traditional flavors that marked his childhood with two original creations. Two bûches with which, on the one hand, he wants to honor chestnuts, demonstrating once again that he likes to work with seasonal products, and on the other hand, revisit the Mont-Blanc, one of his flagship desserts.

In the pastry shop Le Meurice Cédric Grolet, you can try the marron poché, made from fresh chestnuts to achieve a result which is not excessively sweet. The mousse, cream, chips, or marron glacé are declined in a multitude of textures, compensated by a toasted chestnut biscuit with hazelnut praline, all gathered up by a lemon gel that offers a perfect balance.

While in the restaurant Le Dalí, located in the hotel, a visually different bûche is served, but with the same composition, except for one detail: the chestnuts are smoked, so the flavors are multiplied by ten. Here the World’s Best Pastry Chef 2018 hides the mousse, the creamy chestnut heart, and the crispy chestnut biscuit / lemon hazelnut praline under a delicate cover of milk chocolate.

Photos by ©pmonetta