Chocolate Caramel Tart

Happy first day of Fall! Something about Fall makes me want to put caramel on all the things. While I wouldn’t necessarily call this Chocolate Caramel Tart a seasonal recipe, I’m perfectly happy to enjoy this recipe all year long. 🙂

This Chocolate Caramel Tart is a chocolate shortbread crust filled with homemade salted caramel sauce and dark chocolate ganache. I also dusted the top of my tart with some powdered sugar for good measure.

This tart has three separate recipes, but isn’t at all fussy. The chocolate shortbread crust comes together quickly in the food processor. I used a 9″ tart pan with removable bottom, like this one [here], but you could choose to make virtually any size or shape tart(lets) you want. (You’ll want to reduce the bake time for the crust on tartlets.) Because the crust is frozen prior to baking, you don’t even need pie weights.

I’ll start out by saying *of course* if you’d rather buy caramel sauce, that makes this recipe even easier to throw together. That said, consider making it yourself because it is yuuuuummy! It may seem intimidating if you’ve never done it before, but I swear, you can do it!

Other posts you may like:

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Meringues

Snickers Ice Cream Sandwiches

Dulce de Leche Cream Puffs

Chocolate, Salted Caramel, & Hazelnut Tartlets

Crust recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours (link here). Salted caramel sauce adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod (link here). Chocolate ganache filling adapted (barely) from Gimme Some Oven (link here).

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Amee

A chocolate shortbread crust filled with homemade salted caramel sauce and dark chocolate ganache! A decadent classic!

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Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Shortbread Crust:

• 1¼ cups flour
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• pinch salt
• 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and diced
• 1 egg yolk

Salted Caramel Sauce (see note):

• ½ cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
• ¼ cup heavy (whipping) cream
• ¾ tsp fleur de sel (or other sea salt)

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

• 16 oz dark chocolate, chopped (I used 60% cacao)
• 15 oz coconut milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp chocolate extract (see note)

Garnish:

• powdered sugar, if desired

Instructions

 

For Crust:

• Grease a 9" tart pan with removable bottom (see note). Set aside.
• In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, cocoa, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse briefly to combine.
• Add diced butter and pulse until no large pieces remain. Beat egg yolk slightly and drizzle over the top. Process in long pulses until the dough comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead together. Roll the dough large enough to line your tart pan. Transfer to tart pan and trim edges. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350F. Grease some foil and line the frozen crust with it (you don't need pie weights because the crust is frozen). Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake 25 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for another 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Salted Caramel Sauce:

• Pour sugar into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk, and keep whisking, as sugar melts. It will clump and you'll think you're doing it all wrong. You're not. 🙂
• Once sugar is melted, stop whisking and let sugar cook until it is deep amber in color. *Carefully* add butter (mixture will bubble!) and whisk to incorporate.
• Remove mixture from the heat. Add cream (carefully!) and whisk until smooth. Add salt and stir to incorporate. Set aside to cool slightly. (Can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)
• Spread about a cup of the salted caramel sauce in the bottom of the cooled crust. Set aside.

For Ganache:

• Place chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, warm the coconut milk over medium heat until bubbling. Pour over chocolate and let sit two minutes.
• Stir the ganache until smooth. Add vanilla and chocolate extracts (see note) and stir to combine.
• Pour the ganache over the caramel layer. Chill at least two hours. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

  Enjoy!

Notes

Note on tart pan: I used a 9" tart pan with removable bottom, like this one [here].

Note on salted caramel sauce: You can always use store-bought salted caramel sauce, but I like this recipe. 

Note on chocolate extract: I highly recommend this (sometimes overlooked) extract! It lends amazing depth of flavor to chocolate baked goods! If you can't find it in your local grocery store, you can find some [here]. Even better, make yourself some [Homemade Chocolate Extract] for next time!

 

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