Chocolate Caramel Tart

So after I made the delicious Autumn Pork Roast, I served up this delicious dessert of Chocolate Caramel Tart. I actually had this recipe bookmarked for a long time before actually making it, I kept coming back and eyeing it-- when will I make this? On what occasion can I possibly make this?
Ah, on this such occasion.

This was delicious-- it's super rich, sweet. The caramel is delicate (the first time I burned it), and it goes well with the chocolate pastry and the ganache. Well, how can you go wrong? Really, it's a simply flavoured dessert. Rich, dark chocolate. Rich, sweet caramel. Topped with some sea salt, and voila! There really isn't much to say.


What I will say is this. It's absolutely fantastic to pull this out of the fridge, slice it, and have the caramel just slightly puff and ooze out from the sides. It's fantastic to have there be a string of caramel to your mouth. The salt adds another dimension of flavour (this salt I got from Il Fornaio for participating in their passport program). The chocolate is both rich and dark, not too sweet, to allow the caramel to shine more keenly.
The chocolate crust, while a little difficult (again, I don't have a lot of room in other peoples kitchens), was yummy-- very tender, almost cookie like.
I could also see this being very good with a chocolate mousse layer as well, then topped with a ganache. My ganache was pretty mousse like-- I was in a rush and didn't really concentrate on how much cream I was pouring in. It just missed the fluffy.


Chocolate Caramel Tart
Recipe from Lottie + Doof

Chocolate Tart Dough

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Caramel Filling

1/2 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoons sour cream (or creme fraiche if you can find/afford it)

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, and mix until just combined. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and form it into a disk; wrap well. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 325° F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the tart dough into a large circle 3/16 inch thick. Transfer the tart dough to a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press into pan. If it falls apart at all just push it back together in the pan. Chill the tart shell in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Prick the shell all over with a fork. Line with parchment paper filled with pie weights or dried beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights, and bake until the pastry looks dry and set, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shell can be made 8 hours ahead.)

Place 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Add sugar and corn syrup, and cook mixture over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it becomes an amber caramel-- you might want to remove it at about medium color, I removed it at a lighter colour because my pans cook hot-- this should take about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and carefully (the mixture will bubble up) and slowly add the heavy cream followed by the butter and sour cream. Stir until smooth.
Pour the caramel into the cooled tart shell and allow to set, first at room temperature and then in the refrigerator.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the ganache over the tart. Refrigerate until set.

Remove the tart from the refrigerator 5-10 minutes before you are ready to serve it. Cut the tart into slices and sprinkle each with Fleur de Sel.

Also, I had to change my blog counter (sad!). The other site I think has died, and so it has started over. Goodbye 10k hits. Maybe this time I'll do you right and make you something.