For part one of my cooking with Gizzi Erskine, I showed off her fabulous Sweetcorn Fritters, which I tried out again this weekend and they were just as easy to make as at the Nescafe Dolce Gusto event, I might have found my speciality!!! Well, you can’t have brunch without finishing it off with something sweet, so Gizzi shared her delicious Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart, which I have, to be honest, isn’t an every weekend kind of dessert as it does take a couple of hours to prepare and make.
I enjoy making this dish, it would be easier with a mixer, but it still requires a lot more patience than I generally have, and one major tip I would have is don’t take your eyes off the caramel as this is the bit that can easily go wrong. But what I will take away from this recipe is a new confidence in using pastry, I have always been a little scared of pastry, but I did get some great tips from Gizzi and the use of the ceramic baking beans for the blind bake is something I had never heard of before.
Are you confident enough to try Gizzi’s salted caramel chocolate tart?
Salted Carmel Chocolate Tart Recipe
Ingredients for chocolate tart
- 150g unsalted butter
- 1 x pack of ready to roll short crust pastry (based on 200g pastry used for tart – 25cm)
- 160g good quality chocolate (lindt or green & blacks 70%)
- 8 tbsp cocoa powder
- small pinch of salt if required
- 4 eggs
- 180g caster sugar
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 3 tbsp single cream
Ingredients for the caramel
- 150g caster sugar
- 65g unsalted butter, diced
- 100ml single cream
- 1 tbsp sea salt
Instructions
- Grease a tart tin (25cm) with butter and then dust flour inside, place the pastry inside and blind bake in the over on 170°c for 30-35 minutes.
- Cook the tart without the blind bake for the last 5 minutes of cooking. When the pastry is cooked and starts to get a little brown take it out and leave to cool. In the meantime, make the caramel by melting the sugar and a splash of water in a saucepan on a medium heat until it is a light golden colour, then whisk in the butter and then the double cream.
- Finish with the salt. pour the caramel into the cooked tart and place in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 140°c.
- When the caramel has almost set, start making the chocolate mix by melting the butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a bain marie (a bowl held above a saucepan of simmering water) stirring until it’s smooth.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until light and well creamed, followed by the golden syrup and double cream. Add the chocolate mixture and mix well.
- Pour the mix into the tart on top of the set caramel and bake in the oven for 40 to 45 min.
