Chocolate Caramel Tart

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Pastry

240g plain flour
60g caster sugar
pinch of salt
180g cold butter, diced into cubes
1-2 Tbl cold water

In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt a few times to mix. Add the cold butter cubes and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add 1 Tbl of cold and process until combined. If dry add more cold water (a little at a time) and process until dough just comes together. You don’t want the mixture too wet and sticky and you shouldn’t need any more than 2 tablespoons.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disc and refrigerate for an hour.

Roll out the pastry on floured surface to 5mm thickness and line a 26cm round or 32cm rectangular tart tin. Refrigerate for another hour. Preheat oven to 190°C.

Line pastry with baking paper and add weights (ceramic balls, rice or beans) and blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and bake for a further 8-10 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Cool pastry case in tin.

Caramel

225g caster sugar
250ml water
80ml thickened cream
70g butter, roughly chopped

Combine sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and stir over a low flame until sugar is dissolved.

Increase the heat to high and cook sugar, while brushing down the sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until it’s a deep golden colour (about 10-15 minutes). As soon as it starts browning, don’t take your eyes off it! It doesn’t take long for it to go from pale brown to a burnt mess.

As soon as it hits the right colour, remove quickly from the heat and immediately add cream and butter (this will stop it from cooking and burning). Be careful as the mixture will spit and foam.

Stir to combine and pour into the tart case. Refrigerate until firm (about 1-2 hours).

Chocolate Mousse

250g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 eggs, separated
185ml thickened cream
2 Tbl caster sugar

Melt chocolate in a double-boiler or heatproof bowl over a pan of low simmering water. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Add the yolks, stir to combine and set aside (it’ll look all weird and gluggy but don’t worry).

In a separate bowl, whisk cream until soft peaks and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk eggwhites with an electric mixer until frothy. Then gradually add the sugar and continue whisking until it forms soft peaks.

Add a little of the cream and stir into the chocolate mixture to soften it up and make it easier to mix.

Fold a 1/3 of the eggwhite mixture gently into the chocolate mixture, then fold in a 1/3 of the remainder of the cream. Repeat with remaining eggwhite and cream until all combined.

Spoon over cold caramel in the tart case. Spread the mousse to the edges and smooth the top. Refrigerate until firm (about 2-3 hours).

To Finish

150g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
60ml pouring cream
20g unsalted butter, softened

Combine chocolate and cream in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until chocolate melts.

Remove from the heat, add butter and stir to combine.

Cool until it’s a touch warm, then spread over the fully chilled chocolate mousse in the tart case and smooth top. Refrigerate immediately until set (about 30-40 minutes). Serve in thin slices with a dollop of cream if you wish.

Notes: The top isn’t exactly pretty but that was my fault because I left the glaze too long before I poured it on the tart. Instead of leaving it to room temperature, I would keep a little warmth in it so it’ll be easier to spread (just make sure the tart is fully chilled before you glaze it). Refrigerate immediately so the mousse underneath won’t be affected.

http://www.citrusandcandy.com/2010/03/chocolate-and-caramel-mousse-tart.html