I’ve been MIA for a few weeks but I was in vacation mode and I really wasn’t very inspired with blog ideas and I wasn’t in the kitchen that much but I’m BACK! This chocolate caramel tart is amazing and the perfect dessert for a special occasion because it’s very sophisticated but between you and me, it’s pretty simple to make. It does have a few steps but they’re easy and it comes together easily so I definitely think it’s worth a try.
I found the original recipe via Pinterest and it’s from Life Made Simple and I just made a few adjustments to the recipe.
I’m going to be honest but the crust wasn’t very easy to work with but it’s the first time I worked with a sablée style crust so I’m not really sure how it’s supposed to be but the finished product turned out just fine. I just needed some patience when I was moulding it in the tart pan. The dough came together really easily because I made it in the food processor but it can be made by hand. The tricky bit happened when I rolled it out and tried to add it to my tart pan and it just wasn’t happening. The dough has to be really cold and you need to work quickly because this dough is basically just butter so the more you manipulate it (especially in the Spanish heat) the harder it is to work with it because the butter starts to soften. I ended up having to add it to the freezer for 15 minutes and then I rolled it out just enough so that it covered the bottom of the pan and went up the sides a bit and then I just used my fingers to get the dough to where I needed it to be. It may not be the most professional way to get it done but it worked and that’s all that matters in my book.
The Maldon salt is a MUST on this chocolate caramel tart because it’s the perfect marriage between the caramel and the chocolate. This chocolate caramel tart is pretty easy to make and the “hardest” part was the crust and that was’t even that bad. I used my no-fail caramel sauce recipe from epicurious except I cook the caramel until 370°F instead of the stated 380. I highly recommend using a candy thermometer because the times I didn’t I always ended up with a too dark caramel that was bitter. The thermometer is great because the colour of the sugar is hard to gauge with all the bubbles and it darkens up after you take it off the heat and you add the cream and butter so I always use the thermometer and ever since then I make perfect caramel every time instead of a burnt sugar mess.
- 1 1/4 cup / 156 gr. all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. / 19 gr. granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. / 1.5 gr. salt
- 7 Tbsp. / 99 gr. of butter, cold cut into small cubes
- 1 egg yolk, cold
- 1/2 tsp. / 2.5 ml pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. / 37.5 ml ice cold water
- 3/4 cup / 180 ml whipping cream
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml whole milk
- 12 oz / 340 gr. high quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped up
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
- 1 cup / 200 gr. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. / 21 gr. light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml water
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml whipping cream (room temperature or heated)
- 1 tsp. / 5 ml pure vanilla extract
- Maldon salt
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and blend until combined.
- In a separate bowl add the egg yolk, vanilla and ice cold water and beat until combined.
- Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse until just combined.
- Add the cold butter to the food processor and pulse with one second pulses until you get a crumbly mixture with pea sized bits (see photo above). I ended up pulsing 30 times.
- Add the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and knead until combined.
- Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- While the dough is chilling make the caramel sauce and the chocolate filling.
- Add the sugar, syrup, water to a medium sized heavy bottom saucepan and mix until the sugar is completely moistened.
- Heat the sugar mixture on medium-high heat while whisking continuously until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Once the mixture boils, stop whisking and let the mixture cook until you get a reading of 370°F on a candy thermometer. Do not leave this mixture unattended because it starts to cook very quickly and it burns easily. Also be very careful when handling boiling sugar because it can cause very severe burns.
- Remove from the heat and slowly add the whipping cream. The mixture will bubble furiously and generate a lot of steam so be careful not to get burned and add the cream bit by bit and whisk after each addition of cream.
- Add the butter and whisk.
- Let the caramel sit for three minutes and then add the vanilla and mix.
- Set aside.
- Add the whipping cream and the whole milk to a medium pot and bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and mix until all the chocolate is melted.
- Add the egg and yolk to a small bowl and beat. Then add a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture and beat continuously until the mixture comes together.
- This tempers the eggs so that they don't cook when added to the chocolate mixture. It's important to beat the eggs when adding the tablespoons of chocolate because if not the eggs will scramble and you'll have to start over.
- Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and knead quickly.
- Roll out the dough and add to the tart pan.
- Cut the dough to the level of the tart pan.
- Cover the dough with aluminum foil and add pie weights (I used dried garbanzo beans) and bake the shell for 25 to 30 minutes or just until the crust is light golden brown. Check the bottom of the dough because my edges were done before the bottom of the dough so I cooked by shell for an additional 6 minutes without the aluminum foil.
- Let the shell cool for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Add the chocolate mixture to the dough shell (it should fill up to half of the side of the shell).
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until just set.
- Let cool for about 30 minutes.
- Add the caramel sauce but be careful for it not to go past the edge of the shell.
- Let stand until it is cool.
- Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle with Maldon salt before serving.
- * If you want to make the dough by hand then visit Life Made Simple for her dough making method.
- **This caramel recipe is from Epicurious.
- Use a 10 " tart pan with a removable bottom.
- The prep time stated includes the 2 hour chilling time for the dough therefore the active prep time is 45 minutes.
If you want to look like a boss in the kitchen but don’t have the time to spend three nights prepping a dessert than you definitely have to make this chocolate caramel tart because everybody will love it and you won’t have gone crazy in the process.
I'm MYC on Ravelry.
Is beautiful we are proud of you