Monday, May 25, 2015

Chocolate Tarts With Caramel Sauce

Chocolate   Tarts  With   Caramel  Sauce





Sweet Pastry Shell

1 ½ cup  all-purpose flour
½ cup confectioners' sugar
¼ tsp   salt
4 ½ spoon cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten ( optional )

Chocolate Filling

1 ¼ cup  heavy cream
1 ¼ cup  finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 large egg yolks, beaten  ( optional )
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp  salt

Caramel Sauce

1 cup  granulated sugar (White or Brown )
¼ cup water
1 pinch salt
2 Tbsp each unsalted butter and heavy cream

Method

Sweet Pastry Shell

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Add egg and continue pulsing until the dough starts to form clumps.
3. Turn dough out onto work surface and knead just combined, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll into an 11-inch circle (28 cm), then carefully fit it into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Pat some of the overhanging dough back in around the edge to make the sides of the tart shell thicker than the bottom.
5. Trim off excess dough from edges and place tart in refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.
6. With the tines of a fork, prick bottom of chilled pastry tart at ½-inch (1 cm) intervals, line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
7. Bake pastry shell in preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven (200 degrees Celsius) until the rim of the shell starts to turn golden, about 15 minutes, then removed weights and parchment, return shell to oven, and back until golden, about 10 minutes more. Transfer shell to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, make filling.

Chocolate Filling

1. In a small saucepan set over medium heat add cream, bring to a gentle boil, then add chocolate and stir until melted.
2. Remove pan from heat and whisk a little chocolate mixture into eggs, then whisk egg mixture into chocolate mixture along with vanilla and salt.
3. Spoon filling into reserved tart shell and bake in preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven (180 degrees Celsius) until set in the middle, about 30 minutes.

Caramel Sauce

1. In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar, water and salt, bring to a boil, and cook until water has evaporated and sugar is light golden brown, about 8 minutes.
DO NOT STIR OR SHAKE POT.
2. Remove pot from heat and carefully stir in butter and cream. Keep sauce warm until ready to serve.
3. To Plate: Portion tart and serve each slice drizzled with caramel sauce.

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