Best Chocolate Caramel Tarts Recipes

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL TARTS

Steps:

• Make the tart dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Sift in flour and cocoa powder, and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and form it into a disk; wrap well. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, roll the tart dough into an 18-by-12-inch rectangle, 3/16 inch thick. Using a 2 3/4-inch round cutter, cut out 24 rounds of dough, and press them into 2 1/4-inch tart pans, trimming away any excess dough. Chill the tart shells in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Line each tart shell with a piece of parchment paper, and fill with raw rice or dried lentils. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and its contents, and bake until the pastry looks dry and set, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shells can be made up to 8 hours ahead.)
• Make the filling: Place 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Add sugar and corn syrup, and cook mixture over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it becomes a dark-amber caramel, about 10 minutes. Carefully whisk in butter, cream, creme fraiche, and a pinch of salt (the mixture will bubble up), whisking until smooth. (The caramel can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container.) Carefully transfer caramel to a glass measuring cup. Divide caramel among tart shells while still warm (or reheat caramel over low heat until it is pourable), and let stand until the caramel is set, at least 45 minutes.
• Make the ganache glaze: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour some of the glaze over each of the tarts while still warm. Let the glaze set at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL TARTS

Steps:

• Chocolate tart dough: In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, roll tart dough to an 18 by 12-inch rectangle, 3/16-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 24 rounds of dough and press them into mini muffin tins or 2-inch tart pans, trimming away any excess dough. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Chill tart shells for 20 minutes.
• Line the tart shells with foil and fill with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until pastry looks dry and set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shells can be made 8 hours ahead.)
• Caramel filling: Place 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Add sugar and corn syrup and cook mixture over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally until you have a dark amber caramel, about 10 minutes. Carefully whisk in butter, cream, and creme fraiche (mixture will hiss and bubble up), whisking until smooth. (Caramel can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated, then warmed over low heat or microwaved before pouring into tart shells.)
• Divide caramel while still warm among cooled tart shells and let sit until caramel is set, at least 45 minutes.
• Chocolate ganache glaze: In saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Place chopped chocolate in a bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour some of the still-warm glaze over each tart. Let glaze set at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with salt, if desired, just before serving.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL COCONUT TARTS

Steps:

• Place 24 frozen tart shells on baking sheets. Let tart shells come to room temperature while you are preparing filling.
• In a double boiler, add chocolate chips, marshmallows and ½ cup evaporated milk. Heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes.
• At the same time, pour ½ cup evaporated milk, coconut milk and corn syrup into a small saucepan and place over lowest heat setting. Do not set any higher! Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a hand blender. Very slowly, beat in the barely-warm evaporated milk and coconut milk mixture. Slowly drizzle in chocolate mixture while beating on low speed. When mixed, stir in toasted sliced almonds and 1 cup shredded coconut.
• Fill each tart almost to the top with chocolate mixture. Put ½ a caramel on top of each filled tart. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, until shells are lightly browned. Immediately sprinkle each tart with 1 teaspoon coconut (optional).
• Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before handling. Serve warm if possible.

CHOCOLATE, SALTED CARAMEL AND HAZELNUT TARTS

Steps:

• To make the pastry, place the flour, ground nuts, icing sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and vanilla bean paste and blitz until it forms fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the pastry comes together, adding the tsp of ice water if needed; do not overmix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly just until it is smooth; form into a thick log, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Slice the chilled log into 6 even pieces, roll each one out on a lightly floured surface until it is large enough to line an 8-10cm deep tart tin. Line the tins, pressing the pastry right into the corners and leaving any excess pastry overhanging. Place the tins on a baking tray then chill in the fridge for 30 mins or so.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350F. Line each tart case with a piece of baking parchment and fill with baking beans or dried rice, making sure that it goes right into the corners. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the baking beans and parchment and return the tarts to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden and baked through.
• Leave the tarts to cool a little in the tins then carefully trim off the excess pastry with a very sharp serrated knife. Remove the tarts from the tins and set aside.
• For the hazelnut salted caramel layer, place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes until the skins have darkened and the nuts are golden. Tip them out onto a clean teatowel and rub them vigorously with the towel, the skins should flake off but don't worry if you can't get rid of all of the skin. Roughly chop the nuts and set aside.
• Place the sugar and water in a deep, wide, heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat, swirling the pan (don't stir it), until the sugar has melted and turned a rich golden brown; meanwhile, heat the cream, butter and salt together in a small pan until hot but not boiling. As soon as the sugar has turned golden, quickly remove it from the heat and pour in the cream, it will bubble up violently so be careful.
• Once the bubbling has subsided, stir until smooth; you may need to return the pan to a low heat for a couple of minutes if there are any lumps of caramel. Set aside one third of the caramel for drizzling over the finished tarts and stir the chopped nuts into the rest. Allow to cool a little then divide it between the tart cases and place them in the fridge until the caramel has set.
• For the chocolate crunch layer, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water (don't let the base of the bowl touch the water), or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir in the crushed waffle cones or feuilletine until they are fully coated in chocolate. Divide the mixture between the tarts, spreading it out into an even layer, return to the fridge until set.
• To make the chocolate cremeux, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Put the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Gradually pour the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the yolks don't curdle.
• Return the pan to a low heat and stir constantly until it coats the back of a spoon (180-183F). Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve onto the chocolate, mix until smooth then add the butter and stir until melted.
• At this point you can either allow the cremeux to cool then pour some onto each tart while it is still fairly runny and spread until it is smooth, or you can do as I did and place it in the fridge until it has become firm enough to pipe (keep an eye on it, you don't want it to become too firm) then transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a large, plain nozzle and pipe dollops of it on top of each tart.
• Allow the tarts to come up to room temperature before serving, then dust with a little cocoa powder and drizzle with the remaining salted caramel sauce.

CARAMELISED WHITE CHOCOLATE, GINGER CARAMEL & MACADAMIA TARTS

Steps:

• For the sweet pastry, put the flour, almonds, icing sugar, salt and vanilla seeds into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and pulse again until fully combined. If the pastry isn't coming together into a uniform mass, add chilled water, 1 tsp at a time, and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Be careful not to overwork the dough as you will make the pastry tough, and it's likely to shrink more when cooked. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and lightly knead until smooth and uniform in colour. Wrap in cling film and chill until needed.
• To make the caramelised white chocolate, heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Put the chocolate on a large baking tray and bake for 45 mins-1 hr, giving it a good stir every 10 mins, until it's a light golden brown - almost the colour of peanut butter. After 45 mins or so, the chocolate may start to look chalky or seized, but should become smooth again after a good stir. If not, don't worry, as it will be melted again in the next stage. Scrape the chocolate into a bowl, cover and set aside.
• For the bavarois, pour the milk into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk together. Put the gelatine in a small bowl of cold water and leave to soften for 3-5 mins. Once the milk has come to the boil, pour onto the egg mixture while whisking quickly together to prevent the eggs scrambling. Pour back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens (if you have an instant-read thermometer, it should be 75-80C). Pour the custard into a bowl and add 150g of the caramelised chocolate and the gelatine (squeezing out the water), stirring until both have melted. Sieve through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps from the chocolate. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill until the custard has cooled and started to set around the side of the bowl - but don't leave for too long or it will set completely. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks and carefully fold this through the custard until smooth and fully combined. Pour the mixture into the holes of your silicone dome mould and carefully place in the freezer until frozen solid (best left overnight).
• Now bake your tart cases. Remove the pastry from the fridge and allow to soften slightly for 15 mins before rolling out until it is around 2mm thick. Cut out rounds of pastry just larger than the 6 tartlet cases and use to carefully line. Place the lined cases onto a parchment-lined baking tray and chill in the fridge or freezer until the pastry is firm. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the tarts with a piece of parchment and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake the tarts for 20 mins, then remove the parchment and beans, and bake for a further 5-10 mins until the bases of the tarts start to brown. Allow the tarts to cool fully.
• For the ginger macadamia caramel, put the cream and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid, allowing the ginger to infuse into the cream for 1 hr. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve into a measuring jug, topping back up to 120ml if needed. Put the sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and cook until the sugar has melted and caramelised, swirling but not stirring, until it is a dark caramel colour. Pour in half the cream - be careful as this mixture will bubble up violently. Once the caramel has settled, add in the remaining cream, stirring over the heat if any lumps have formed. Add the butter and ¾ of the nuts, and stir to combine. Once the caramel has cooled slightly, divide it between the tart shells.
• For the glaze, put the remaining 225g of caramelised white chocolate in a bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour over the chocolate, stirring until you have a smooth, pourable glaze. Remove the bavarois domes from the freezer and carefully unmould, placing them on a wire rack set over a baking tray. While the glaze is still warm and fluid, pour over the domes, making sure the entire surface is covered. Using a small palette knife, lift the domes from the rack and carefully place on top of the tarts.
• To decorate, chop the remaining nuts so they are fairly fine, then press around the base of the domes where they sit on the tarts. Chill for 30 mins (or up to 24 hrs) to allow the bavarois to defrost before serving.