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Mont Blanc Dessert + Kikusumi Chef Knife

One of the all-time great desserts of Autumn is the Mont Blanc. Chestnuts – or Marron in French – can be sourced from 7 growing areas across the world. The chestnut are unique in the food world for they grow within a prickly armor which makes it difficult to access their sweet nut meat. Beyond the shell they also have a tannic “fuzz” that must be cooked and scraped away before one can begin to create a dessert or other culinary treasure. Dried they can be ground to a powder and used in pastry or pasta dough. The whole chestnut can be roasted or confit slowly in a sugar-water base until they become candied. The difficult preparations are more than rewarded with one of the great taste and texture delicacies one will find. The Mont Blanc uses chestnuts in an impressive number of ways then combines them together in a layered cake that often resembles a mountain. Chestnut paste, chestnut cream and chestnut confit are present in the Mont Blanc dessert pictured here.

Autumn Apple Tart + Kikusumi Santoku Knife Black Ceramic Knife Collection

Apples are perhaps the most representative fruit of Autumn. Yellow, red, green and all variations in between appear in farmer’s markets beginning late September. There are an incredible variety of apples although you may not know that if only shopping in a supermarket. More and more, farmers are stepping beyond the usual varietals and offering ancient heirloom and new hybrid types that generally taste better. For cooking apples, crisp and tart are the two characteristics to look for as they hold their shape and taste better after cooking. Granny Smith, Sun Fuji and Orange Cox Pippin are but a few of the better cooking apples. Pictured is a Sun Fuji apple poached slowly in spices that sits above and almond cream tart along with chocolate rolled to resemble an apple stem. The taste of autumn is released with each bite.

Citrus Cream Tart + Kikusumi Paring Knife Black Ceramic Knife Collection

Late Autumn begins the citrus season in the Northern Hemisphere. Citrus offers a ready-made textural delight of sweet & juicy segments. Something this good on its own only needs a simple preparation to highlight its strengths. Here a vanilla custard baked into a flaky feuillantine dough gives the juicy citrus just the right counterpoint of richness. The delicate pastry that crumbles with each bite is a beautiful paring for the the creamy custard and juicy orange segments.

Celebrate fall with these tasty Autumn desserts!