This is a recipe that I have from the ‘Green and Black’s Chocolate Book’. It is decadent, delicious and terribly impressive when served at a dinner party; with its crumbly pastry, a beautiful layer of salted caramel and topped with a rich, smooth chocolate ganache. It is basically a posh millionaire’s shortbread and perfect served for a celebratory dinner. However, it comes with a warning: this is a highly addictive tart!!
It is not difficult to make, just be sure to follow the recipe carefully, using good quality chocolate and weigh out the ingredients accurately. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
Serves 12-14
Pastry:
350g plain flour
75g icing sugar
125g cold butter
2 eggs
Caramel:
45g glucose syrup
275g caster sugar
150ml double cream
1 tsp sea salt
25g butter, diced
Ganache:
400ml double cream
45ml honey
350g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, chopped
175g butter, diced
You need a 29cm (11 inch) loose-based tart tin.
To make the pastry, sift together the flour and icing sugar and cut the butter into chunks. Place in a food processor and blitz until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency. Add the eggs and pulse until a dough forms. Roll out the pastry using quite a lot of flour as it can stick easily. Line the tart tin, leaving extra pastry up the sides of the tin, as it can shrink in the oven. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4.
Blind bake the pastry by covering it with baking paper and filling with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove the beans and paper and pop back into the oven for a further 10 minutes or until it is a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
To make the caramel, pour the glucose syrup into a deep saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the sugar, gradually stir and continue to cook until the sugar has started to caramelise and turned a golden brown colour. At the same time, in a separate saucepan, bring the cream and salt to the boil. Remove the caramel from the heat and very carefully add the cream to the caramel, be extremely careful as the mixture will rise rapidly in the saucepan. Using a hand blender or whisk, mix until smooth over a low heat. Remove from the heat, add the diced butter and stir until the butter has melted and you are left with a smooth, silky caramel. Poor into the cooled pastry case. (Allow to cool before you add the ganache.)
To make the ganache, bring the cream and honey to the boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Mix carefully with a spatula, working from the centre outwards. Once the mixture has cooled a little add the diced butter and stir gently until the butter has melted. Pour the ganache on top of the caramel and leave to set in a cool place for about 4 hours.
It is not difficult to make, just be sure to follow the recipe carefully, using good quality chocolate and weigh out the ingredients accurately. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.
Serves 12-14
Pastry:
350g plain flour
75g icing sugar
125g cold butter
2 eggs
Caramel:
45g glucose syrup
275g caster sugar
150ml double cream
1 tsp sea salt
25g butter, diced
Ganache:
400ml double cream
45ml honey
350g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, chopped
175g butter, diced
You need a 29cm (11 inch) loose-based tart tin.
To make the pastry, sift together the flour and icing sugar and cut the butter into chunks. Place in a food processor and blitz until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency. Add the eggs and pulse until a dough forms. Roll out the pastry using quite a lot of flour as it can stick easily. Line the tart tin, leaving extra pastry up the sides of the tin, as it can shrink in the oven. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4.
Blind bake the pastry by covering it with baking paper and filling with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove the beans and paper and pop back into the oven for a further 10 minutes or until it is a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
To make the caramel, pour the glucose syrup into a deep saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the sugar, gradually stir and continue to cook until the sugar has started to caramelise and turned a golden brown colour. At the same time, in a separate saucepan, bring the cream and salt to the boil. Remove the caramel from the heat and very carefully add the cream to the caramel, be extremely careful as the mixture will rise rapidly in the saucepan. Using a hand blender or whisk, mix until smooth over a low heat. Remove from the heat, add the diced butter and stir until the butter has melted and you are left with a smooth, silky caramel. Poor into the cooled pastry case. (Allow to cool before you add the ganache.)
To make the ganache, bring the cream and honey to the boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Mix carefully with a spatula, working from the centre outwards. Once the mixture has cooled a little add the diced butter and stir gently until the butter has melted. Pour the ganache on top of the caramel and leave to set in a cool place for about 4 hours.