How to make chocolate and salted caramel tarts – deliciously rich and decadent
- With its chocolate pastry, caramel filling and rich glaze, this dessert recipe is worth its (pinch of) salt
Making caramel can be nerve-racking the first few times, but it becomes much easier with practice. Melted sugar doesn’t start to caramelise until it reaches about 171 degrees Celsius, at which point it’s a pale straw colour.
It gains more complexity – and becomes less sweet – if you take the caramel to a darker colour; I like it when it’s medium-dark amber. But there’s a fine line between just right and burnt, and if you let it get too dark, the caramel turns bitter and acrid.
When the caramel turns golden, turn off the flame and let the residual heat continue to cook it, and don’t take your eyes off it. Just before it gets to the colour you like, dip the bottom of the pan in cold water, then immediately stir in the butter and cream.
Chocolate and salted caramel tarts
The chocolate tart dough recipe is adapted from one in The Pie and Pastry Bible (1998), by Rose Levy Beranbaum, while the caramel recipe is based on one in The Last Course (2001), by Claudia Fleming.
If you don’t have enough flan rings (this recipe can fill about 20), line the ones you have with dough, bake the shells completely, then remove the rings before lining and baking more. Or, make as many tarts as you need for the day, then refrigerate the remaining dough, caramel and glaze until the next time you want dessert; that way, the tarts are fresh, which is when they taste best.
The caramel and glaze can be warmed gently in the microwave, or over hot water in a bain-marie, and any leftovers will keep in the fridge for at least two weeks.
Because these tarts are so rich, I make them quite small, using flan rings about 5cm in diameter and 1cm high. You can also use tart rings with removable bottoms.
