Fancy-pants Chocolate & Caramel Tart

There is not much wisdom I have to offer apart from this. Let me tell you a little secret that will get you far in life..

Scooch in close, closer..

People like chocolate

O.K so maybe that wasn’t the most top secret of secrets but it is true. Keep it in your heart & you will never fail.

Baking chocolaty treats has landed me jobs, saved other jobs when I wasn’t doing so well “Hey boss, sorry about yesterday. I made you a cupcake” (I kid you not, it actually works) Improved my relationship, made me new friends. Chocolate can say ” I love you”, “I’m sorry”, “congratulations” and more. It is powerful stuff.

Provided you use good quality chocolate this tart delivers a punch in the face full of deep complex flavours.

And for those of you who like me are somehow living their lives without a food processor, the pastry is ready made. If you’re really a purist you can make your own chocolate shortcrust pastry but I find the all butter ready made shortcrusts are brilliant.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

(Adapted from Delicious. Sweet)

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of Careme dark chocolate shortcrust pastry or if you would like to make your own just use a regular shortcrust recipe & add a heaped tsp of good cocoa
• 1 400g can of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 eggs at room temp
• 225g of the best dark chocolate you can muster
• 150ml double cream
• 100ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method:

1. To make the caramel strip the label off the can of sweetened condensed milk & cover with cold water in a slow cooker. Leave on low for 7.5-8 hours. (Good to do before you go to bed)  Remove from the slow cooker & allow to cool completely before opening the can.
2. Preheat your oven to 180c/350f Line the pastry with baking paper and pastry weights or uncooked rice. Blind-bake for 10 minutes, then remove paper and weights and bake for 5 minutes or until pastry is dry.
3. Reduce oven to 150c/300f. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl & melt in the microwave (1.5 minutes on medium heat should do it) or over a double boiler, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat and cool. Gently whisk eggs in a separate bowl to just combined (don’t allow to froth).
4. Heat cream, vanilla and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling point, then pour over eggs, stirring continuously. Return to pan over low heat and stir for about 5 minutes until thick. (really stir & get into the edges of the saucepan or you will get scrambled eggs) Pour through a sieve over bowl of chocolate, stirring gently until smooth.
5. Spread three-quarters of the caramel over pastry. Pour over chocolate, then bake for 5-10 minutes or until just set. Leave tart in switched-off oven for 1 hour with the door closed. Remove and cool completely before slicing.

**Note: You can store the leftover caramel in a jar in the fridge for quite a while, it is really good heated up & poured over vanilla ice cream with crumbled cookies & salted peanuts.