Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart (TWD)

September 29, 2009

Carla, of the adorable blog Chocolate Moosey, chose the chocolate-crunched caramel tart for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. She has a some sinful looking rocky road brownies which I have added to my ever growing list of things to bake!
Ever since Dorie's cookbook arrived in the mail I have had my eye on this recipe. In fact, as soon as I opened the book, the page that I landed on happened to be the picture of this tart. Needless to say, it was love at fist glance. I almost made it right on the spot but that wouldn't have been practical since I was already late for work. Have you ever spun a globe of the world around, placed a finger over it and imagined that you could live wherever you landed on once it stopped spinning? Sometimes I will use a similar technique when I can't decide what to bake. I will flip through a book without looking at it and suddenly place my hand down on a page. This really helps my indecisive mind, And at times I will land on a recipe that I would never have noticed or thought to try.
I promised myself that this would be my first recipe from Dorie's book, but I soon discovered that it had no yet been chosen by any of the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers. So I waited patiently, knowing that it was just a matter of time before someone picked this drop-dead gorgeous dessert.
I was also pleased that I had another excuse to play with my food processor! The first time I made Dorie's sweet tart dough was for her tartest lemon tart. I had to use a mini-food prep. and divide the dough into 4 parts. The results were wonderful but the crust did not come together correctly and it was not quite as flaky as it was supposed to be. This time I think the crust played out perfectly! I am not saying that one needs a food processor for successful tart crusts. But it really helps someone like me who still learning the basics of dough making. Now I just have to learn to press the dough evenly into the tart pan. They tend to be too thick around the bottom edges. But no one has complained yet about biting into a mouthful of sweet tart crust. :)
Ok, enough already. How did this taste? It was a glorious, tart version of a gourmet Snickers candy bar (if there were such a thing). I know that comparing something like this to a candy bar does not serve the tart it's due justice, yet that is what came into mind as I was enjoying the gooey caramel with it's salted peanuts and dark chocolate ganache. The recipe called for using either honey roasted peanuts or salted. I love my caramel to be salty and I believe that it was a perfect match to the ultra rich ganache topping. This go-to crust tastes like a giant flaky sugar cookie, so imagine how wonderful it was to have melted caramel poured over it along with dark chocolate!
I am an amateur when it comes to making caramel. My first attempt looked beautiful with it's deep, amber brown colouring. However, I could tell something was wrong just by the smell. Caramel can burn very fast and luckily your nose will let you figure that out before you continue with a recipe. My second attempt came out just right, with the caramel taking on a soft light camel shade. I was so tempted to eat most of it before I even poured it over the patiently waiting crust. Be careful not to burn yourself! As good as it looks sitting in a glass bowl, you must allow it to cool or else your tongue will pay a heavy price and you may not be able to even taste the finished tart. Alas, one of my friends learned this the hard way and I arrived too late to swat the stray hand away with a spatula. I highly recommend this recipe to all caramel and chocolate lovers! This would be the perfect dessert to serve if you are trying to impress a date. :)
For the recipe, visit Carla's blog. Also, you may visit the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers.

13 comments:

  1. Your tart looks like a caramel lover's dream! Yum!

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  2. Your caramel layer is so high, looks fabulous! I had more ganache than caramel :-/

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  3. Hi Amanda, I didn't use all the ganache. I saved some of it and used it on another dessert. :)

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  4. Glorious indeed... and it looks just as good as it taste, I bet!

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  5. It looks great! Your pictures so the layers so nicely!

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  6. Your tart is beautiful! You did a great job and we loved the flavor combination as well.

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  7. I totally agree about the crust. I didn't use a food processor and had some problems. Great photos!

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  8. looks like you are mastering tart crusts! beautiful!

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  9. The tart looks fantastic and it sounds like you had a good experience making it! I had never noticed this recipe until it was selected and it was one of my favorite TWD.

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  10. Valerina, Your tarte is so glorious !! I wish I still had a slice !

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  11. beautiful tart. it was really good, wasn't it. And fairly easy.

    Glad y'all enjoyed it.

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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