- Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart -

Okay, so creating this was a bit of a crazy process for me. I had to make caramel! From scratch...make up the recipe...on my own...it was terrifying! Now I'm real into pastry making, but not making the recipes up! It was scary knowing that I had to deal with sugar, and boiling hot sugar at that! Well it all worked out, and needless to say I was dancing around the house like an idiot with excitement. It was just too much fun! So, don't be afraid of making this caramel from scratch, it is really very simple!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart

For the Pastry:

1 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour, plus more for flouring the counter
1/4 c. Cocoa Powder
3 T. Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 sticks chilled Butter, cubed
1/4 cup cold Water

For the Caramel:

1 1/2 c. Granulated Sugar
1/2 c. Water
1 T. Light Corn syrup
1 stick cubed Butter
1/2 c. Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp. Course Salt

Chocolate Ganache:

1/2 c. Heavy Cream
3/4 c. semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
Dash of Vanilla
Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Directions for Pastry:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In food processor fitted with blade, blend together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt. Add the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, blending the whole time. Slowly add the cold water till the dough come away from the sides and forms a ball. Liberally cover the counter with flour and knead the dough, adding more flour to the counter till the dough is no longer sticky, about 3 minutes of kneading. Then, with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a circle, about an 1/8-1/4 of an inch thick. Place the dough in the a 9'' tart pan, and cut away any excess dough. Line the dough with foil and evenly weight with pie weights or beans. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on wire rack. 

Directions for Caramel:

In medium saucepan heat the sugar, water, and corn syrup  over a medium-high heat, boiling till it turns a caramel color (not too dark, once it starts to turn it will turn quickly), around 15-20 minutes it took for me. Once ready, turn the heat down to low, and immediately add the butter and heavy cream. It will bubble, and that's good. Mix with wooden spoon for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat and pour into the cooled tart crust. Let sit and cool until set up, a 3 or more hours is best.

IMPORTANT NOTE!: I've made a hard caramel before with just the sugar and water boiled to a caramel color, and I was told, whatever is left in the bottom of the pan, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RINSE WATER INTO IT!  It WILL explode in your face, no joke! I'm not sure with the butter and cream and all if it acts the same, but I wasn't about to test it, so here's a tip: Let whatever is left in the bottom of the saucepan cool and harden. Then fill the saucepan with water and put it on the stove over a high heat till it boils, then you can just pour it all down the drain. Safety first, always!

Directions for Ganache:

Heat heavy cream in a bowl in microwave until it starts to boil. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla and let sit for a couple of minutes in the cream. Then mix together with fork until smooth. Cover and put in refrigerator for half an hour, stirring every ten minutes. Pour over the cool, set caramel. Sprinkle with a little fleur de sel. Let set completely before serving. I think it tastes better the next day, just be sure to sprinkle on the fleur de sel the day you are going to serve it.

Serves about 8

Enjoy!