Hello!!
So it looks like I’m on a “mini dessert” trip! My previous post (here ) and today these absolutely indulgent, fingerlickin’ good, mini-sized Dark Chocolate Caramel Tarts!
I don’t even have much to say about them..they are simply gorgeous, velvety bites of buttery chocolate crust filled with the golden salted caramel, luscious dark 70% chocolate and finished off with sea salt for the perfect balance and to bring out the intensity!…. Also because I don’t have enough adjectives to describe them.
You can, of course, make them in a full-size pie tin, but I just like to make treats as decadent as these mini-sized, ‘coz you know, portion control is what works for me. In most cases.
These beauties are a perfect dessert when you’re entertaining or for a potluck. They are a little involved, but you can easily prepare everything a day or two in advance and just assemble them the day of. And that hardly takes any time. Get your kids on the job, they’ll thank you for it!
I plan to try a gluten-free version of these tarts using my trusty buckwheat. I’m pretty sure it will work well, given my general good luck with buckwheat pastries. You can see some here, here and here.
I hope you try these wonderful little treats and do let me know how this turned out for you.
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Dark Chocolate Caramel Tarts
Ingredients
Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry
- 250 gms All purpose flour
- 150 gms Butter, chilled and cut into small cubes I use Amul, its salted so I don't add any salt.
- 1 Tbsp icing sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 3-4 Tbsp Chilled water
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 200 gms Dark chocolate (70%)
- 100 gms Cream I used Amul.
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup Sugar
- 6 Tbsp Butter, cut into small pieces I used Amul, its salted so I don't add any salt.
- 1/2 cup Cream, at room temperature
Instructions
Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry
- Sift the flour, icing sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add iced cold water, 1 Tbsp at a time, just enough to bind the dough. It can be a bit a scraggy at this point, but don’t worry, it will come together. Using the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you 4-5 times until its smooth.
- Roll into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap in clingwrap and refrigerate until ready to use. This should rest for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180C. I used mini tart cases ( oval shape), you could use the same or round ones, approximately 2' in diameter. Or a 9" tart case.
- Flour your work surface very well. I like to use cocoa powder for chocolate tarts. Roll out your pastry dough into a large rectangle/ circle, about 1/4' thickness. Using a round 2.5" cookie cutter, cut out about 20-25 rounds. Carefully line them on the tart cases. Use a fork to prick the bottom of each mini pie crust, a couple times. Cover with foil and weigh it down with pie weights..I just use dried chickpeas. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Take the weights and foil off and give it another 5 minutes. Let them cool completely.
Ganache
- Pour the cream into a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat for a few minutes, until it gets just hot. At this point take the cream off the heat. Tipple in the chocolate chips, let it sit for a 3-4 minutes and then stir stir stir, but gently, till you get a thick , shiny ,creamy mixture. Let it cool completely.
Caramel Sauce
- Add the sugar in a heavy bottomed medium sized pan. Heat the sugar over medium heat. Keep whisking as it starts melting. Once its all melted, stop whisking. Just swirl the pan a bit.
- Continue cooking the the sugar till it reaches a deep golden colour. Be careful here, it can burn in no time.
- Take it off the heat and quickly add the butter and cream, whisk furiously and please be careful, this mixture WILL bubble up. Keep whisking till you get a thick, smooth sauce. Let it cool completely before transferring in a jar and refrigerating it.
The Assembly
- Spoon a tsp of caramel sauce onto each tart shell. Then fill it up with the ganache. Let this chill for a couple of hours and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve and enjoy!!
