Swirled chocolate and salted caramel tarts recipe

By Hannah Miles

Serves 6
Takes 35 minutes to make, 15 minutes to bake, plus chilling
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Rating

Bite into this salted caramel tart recipe and first there's the sweetness of caramel, then a hint of dark chocolate bitterness, followed by the tingle of salt. Oh. My. God.

Swirled chocolate and salted caramel tarts

Ingredients

280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
20g cocoa powder
150g butter, chilled and cubed
50g soft light brown sugar
½ tsp salt

For the caramel ganache

225g granulated sugar
120g salted butter, cubed
3 tbsp crème fraîche

For the chocolate ganache

200g plain chocolate, broken up
4 tbsp crème fraîche
30g salted butter, cubed

Method

1. To make the pastry, put the flour, cocoa, butter, brown sugar and salt into a food processor. Pulse to fine breadcrumbs – take care not to overwork it. Sprinkle with 50-70ml iced water and pulse again, until the dough starts to come together. Turn onto a surface and knead briefly. Form into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/ gas 4 and put in a baking sheet.
3. Divide the pastry into 6 pieces. Roll each 1 out on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick. Press each piece into 6 x 9cm round, loose-bottomed, fluted tart tins, leaving the excess pastry overhanging the sides. Prick the tart bases and line with baking paper and baking beans. Put on the preheated baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the pastry looks dry and golden. Put the tins on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then trim the overhanging pastry down to the tin. Remove the pastry cases from the tin and leave to cool completely.
4. Make the caramel ganache. Dissolve the sugar in 60ml water in a heavy-based frying pan over a low heat. Increase the heat until the syrup turns a deep amber colour. You can swirl the pan from time to time to cook the caramel evenly but don’t stir or the sugar will crystallise. Remove from the heat, leave to cool for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the butter with a pinch of salt. Set aside for 2 minutes, then whisk in the crème fraîche, beating until smooth and glossy. Transfer to a bowl and chill for 15 minutes to cool and thicken.
5. Make the chocolate ganache. Heat the chocolate, crème fraîche and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
6. Loosely swirl the caramel and chocolate ganaches together and fill each tart case with a generously heaped tablespoon. Serve at room temperature within 2 hours, with cream or ice cream, if you like.