Banana Chocolate Tart With Caramel And Chocolate Sauces Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Blend crumbs, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt in a food processor until mixture begins to hold together and pat onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake in middle of oven until side of crust is firm to the touch, 14 to 18 minutes.
• Sprinkle chocolate chips into hot crust and let stand 5 minutes to soften. Spread evenly over bottom of crust. Beat cream with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and rum until it holds soft peaks. Cut bananas into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Whisk preserves and add bananas, tossing to coat. Spoon banana mixture into crust and top with whipped cream.

Steps:

• To make the tart shells: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix well. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture in the bottom of each of 4 ring molds each 2 inches in diameter. Pack the mixture firmly into the molds. (You will have more dough than you need for 4 molds. Because the tiny tart shells are fragile and time-consuming to make, it is a good idea to line additional ring molds with the remaining dough in case of breakage.) Place the molds on a nonstick drying sheet on a dehydrator shelf and dehydrate at 105°F for 3 hours. Remove the tart shells from the drying sheet and dehydrate directly on the shelf for about 10 hours longer, or until just dry.
• To make the Caramel Sauce: Drain the cashews, pat them dry, and then measure them. You should have 1/4 cup; discard any excess. In a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, Cashew Milk, honey, Date Paste, and maple syrup and process until smooth. Strain the purée through a fine-mesh sieve. Set aside 4 tablespoons for the tarts; reserve the remainder for another use.
• Spoon 1 tablespoon of the Mexican Chocolate Sauce in a circle on each plate. Put a tart shell on top of the sauce. Spread 2 tablespoons of the Chocolate Fudge-Almond on the tart shell. Arrange 7 banana slices on top. Drizzle 1 tablespoon Caramel Sauce over the bananas and on the plate. Sprinkle with the Honey Walnuts.

Steps:

• Sift flour and cocoa into small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Beat in flour mixture. Beat in egg yolks 1 at a time. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Using 5-inch-diameter plate or bowl as guide, cut out rounds. Reroll dough scraps if necessary to form four 5-inch rounds total. Press each dough round onto bottom and up sides of 4 1/4- to 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pan with removable bottom. Pierce crusts all over with fork. Freeze crusts 10 minutes. Bake until firm to touch and beginning to pull away from sides of pans, about 15 minutes. Cool crusts completely in pans on rack.
• Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir over low heat until any caramel bits dissolve and caramel is smooth. Whisk in butter. Set aside.
• Bring cream and corn syrup to boil in heavy small saucepan. Add star anise; remove from heat. Cover; let steep 15 minutes. Discard star anise. Return mixture to boil. Remove from heat. Add 4 1/2 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate and butter; whisk ganache topping until smooth.
• Stir 1 ounce finely chopped bittersweet chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted. Brush inside of each crust with melted chocolate, then sprinkle each with 1 generous teaspoon chopped cashews. Spoon caramel filling over nuts in crusts (about 2 tablespoons for each). Chill tartlets until caramel sets slightly, about 30 minutes.
• Rewarm chocolate ganache topping just until pourable, if necessary. Spoon chocolate ganache atop caramel filling. Refrigerate just until ganache sets, about 45 minutes, then let tartlets stand at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tartlets loosely and let stand at room temperature.)
• Stir 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in heavy small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until medium (not deep) amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; slowly add orange juice and 1/2 teaspoon ginger juice. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Return mixture to boil, stirring until any caramel bits dissolve. Boil until sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 4 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature. Rewarm over low heat just until pourable.)
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Add brown sugar; whisk until blended, about 1 minute. Add banana slices and toss to coat. Transfer banana mixture to small baking sheet. Bake until bananas begin to brown slightly around edges and sugar mixture bubbles, about 4 minutes.
• Remove sides from tartlet pans. Place tartlets on plates. Drizzle ginger caramel sauce around tartlets. Arrange banana slices alongside. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cashews and serve.
• *Brown star-shaped seedpods sold at Asian markets, at specialty foods stores, and in the spice section of some supermarkets

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450F.
• For the Crust: In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar, with an electric mixer, until blended.
• Beat in yolk, vanilla, and salt.
• Add flour and beat until moist clumps form.
• Press dough into bottom of 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom.
• Pierce with fork and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Bake crust until golden (about 15 minutes).
• Cool.
• For the Banana Topping: Reduce oven temperature to 375F.
• Overlap banana slices on crust, covering completely.
• Brush melted butter over banana slices and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake until just warmed through (4 minutes).
• Drizzle with some caramel sauce (recipe follows).
• Sprinkle with macadamia nuts.
• Serve with ice cream and pass extra caramel sauce around.
• For Caramel Sauce: In a heavy saucepan, heat the cream over medium low heat until bubbles form, along the edges of the pan.
• Keep warm.
• In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice until well mixed.
• Cover the pot and place it over medium high heat until the sugar melts and bubbles, about 4 minutes.
• Remove the cover and occasionally swirl the pan or stir the mixture until the syrup is a golden amber color, 5 to 8 minutes.
• While cooking, brush the sides of the pan with a wet brush just above the bubbling sugar to keep crystals from forming.
• Stirring constantly, slowly pour in the warm cream.
• Bring to a boil, continuing to stir constantly.
• Cook until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
• Remove the sauce from the heat, add the butter, and stir until the butter melts and the sauce is smooth.
• Serve immediately or cool to room temperature, then cover tightly and refrigerate for up to two weeks; reheat in a pan of simmering water or a microwave.

Steps:

• To make the salted caramel, put the sugar and 2 tbsp water in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place on a low heat and swirl gently until the sugar has melted. Turn up the heat and let the sugar bubble and caramelise to a nutty brown. Take off the heat and pour in the cream, butter and salt flakes - do this carefully, as it may spit. Gently stir together until smooth and glossy.
• For the chocolate sauce, bring the milk and cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Put the chocolate bits into a bowl. Pour over two-thirds of the milk and cream mixture, stirring until melted and smooth. Adjust the consistency with the remaining hot milk mixture.
• Put the vanilla seeds into the cream and whip until just holding soft peaks. Fold the meringues and banana slices into the cream, leaving a few slices for garnish. Put in serving dishes and drizzle with the two sauces. Top with the remaining banana slices. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• For crust:
• Using electric mixer, beat first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Add flour; beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Press 1 piece evenly onto bottom and up sides of each of six 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pans with removable bottoms. Bake crusts until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Cool crusts completely in pans on rack. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.)
• For filling:
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Add half of bananas to skillet in single layer; cook until bananas brown on bottom, about 45 seconds. Using thin spatula, turn slices over; sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bananas. Cook until sugar dissolves and turns golden, occasionally swirling pan, about 3 minutes. Turn banana slices over; add 3 tablespoons warm water and continue cooking until caramel thickens slightly, swirling pan, about 2 minutes. Arrange banana slices in each of 3 tartlet crusts; spoon any caramel from skillet over. Clean skillet, then repeat procedure with remaining butter, bananas, sugar, and water. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Warm in 350°F oven 10 minutes before continuing recipe.)
• Top each tartlet with scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle each tartlet with Bittersweet Chocolate-Port Sauce and serve.

Steps:

• Prepare chocolate dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Beat until smooth. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until blended.
• Sift flour into dough mixture. Beat on low speed until combined. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch tart pan. (You can use a 9-inch pan, but the crust will be thicker and the caramel may take longer to set in step 4.)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart with foil, and fill with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, and bake until pastry is dry and set, another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Prepare caramel filling: In a large saucepan, bring sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil. Stir or swirl the pan occasionally, until mixture is a medium amber color, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Caramel will continue to cook and darken off of the heat. Carefully but quickly whisk in the butter, cream, creme fraiche and salt until smooth (mixture will bubble up). Pour hot caramel into tart, and allow to cool and set, at least 1 hour.
• Prepare chocolate glaze: Place chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Pour glaze over tart, tilting tart for even coverage. Refrigerate until tart is set, at least one hour, then sprinkle with a few granules of fleur de sel. Keep refrigerated until serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Melt the sugar and butter together on a low heat without stirring the mixture. Once the sugar has melted, turn up the heat and bubble until it turns a deep caramel colour. If the butter separates from the caramel, take the pan off the heat and add 1 tbsp of warm water, stirring until the butter emulsifies again.
• Pour the caramel into a 23cm cake tin with a solid base and spread the caramel out quickly with the back of a warm spoon. Slice the bananas into 2cm-thick pieces and arrange them, cut-side down, in concentric circles in the tin, then sprinkle over a pinch of sea salt and half the orange zest.
• Cut the pastry into a circle 3cm larger than the tin. Lay the pastry on top of the bananas and tuck the edges down inside the tin. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins until the pastry is risen and cooked through. Whisk the double cream with the icing sugar until soft peaks form. Add the rum, cinnamon and remaining orange zest, and whisk until just combined.
• Leave the tart to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then carefully turn the tart out onto a large plate, wearing oven gloves in case the hot caramel splashes. Serve with the cream.