Chocolate salted-caramel tart

This is a complicated recipe – there are three parts to cooking it, BUT it is well worth it in the end.

Chocolate shortcrust pastry base

Ingredients

• 125g butter, cubed
• 1.25 cups plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp iced water

Method

1. Add flour, cocoa powder, caster sugar and salt into bowl and stir until mixed.
2. Add butter and rub with fingers until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
3. Add water and stir with a metal spoon until you have an even, doughy consistency.  You can add a teaspoon of extra water if it still too crumbly.
4. Transfer dough to bench top and knead well for about 2-5 minutes, or until soft and consistent.
5. Roll into a ball, cover with glad-wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced) and grease a 22cm or 9″ tart tin.  Dust your bench with flour.
7. Take the dough from the refrigerator and roll out with a pin onto the dusted bench.  You will want the dough to be around 7.5 mm thick.
8. Place the dough in the greased tin and lightly press into the mould.  You can line the lines (this is up to you), but if you do, try and do the sides and base with one rolled out pastry piece.
9. Prick the base with a fork a few times, add a layer of baking paper and some weights (you can use dried lentils of rice if you don’t have baking weights) and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, remove weights and baking paper and bake for another 15 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Salted Caramel

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups caster sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup thickened cream
• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp salt flakes

Method

1. Add sugar and water to a heavy medium-sized pot over a high heat.
2. Let the sugar dissolve, but do NOT stir.  Once the mixture starts to boil turn the heat down to a medium heat.  The caramel will become browner the longer you leave it.  You are waiting for a tan (think a bronze-y bad fake tan) colour.
3. Once the caramel reaches the desired colour, remove it from the heat and add the cream.  Add back to a low heat and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
4. Add butter and salt and continue to stir for another 2 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and leave aside to cool.

Chocolate tart

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate
• 1 cup thickened cream
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof or glass bowl over a boiling pot of water.
2. Add the cream, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt flakes to the bowl and stir well.
3. Add salted caramel mixture and chocolate mixture together and stir well.
4. Pour chocolate and salted caramel mixture into pastry.  Sprinkle remaining salt flakes over top of mixture.
5. Leave for 30-60 minutes to cool, and then refrigerate for 4 hours (or until set).
6. Hide in the back of the fridge so you don’t have to share.