Chocolate Nut Caramel Tart Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in cream cheese and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. , Roll out dough into a 10-in. circle. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom; trim edges., Line unpricked crust with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 400°., For filling, in a small heavy saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread into crust. , Place tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake until bubbly, for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

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:

• For crust:.
• Blend flour, powdered sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and blend just until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Using lightly floured fingers, press dough firmly and evenly onto bottom and up sides of pan. Chill crust 1 hour.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until pale golden around edges and sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans; bake until crust is golden and cooked through, about 14 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool crust completely in pan.
• For ganache:
• Bring cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth.
• Spoon 3 tablespoons ganache into 1 corner of small resealable plastic bag and seal; set aside at room temperature for piping. Spread remaining ganache evenly over bottom of crust. Sprinkle chopped macadamia nuts evenly over ganache layer in crust. Freeze crust while preparing caramel filling.
• For caramel filling:.
• Combine sugar and 1/3 cup water in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup is golden amber, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Add cream and butter; stir until any caramel bits dissolve and mixture is smooth. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan and bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Boil without stirring until thermometer registers 240°F, about 2 1/2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and salt.
• Remove crust from freezer. Working quickly, pour caramel filling into crust. Gently shake tart pan to allow filling to settle evenly in crust. Cool completely at room temperature, about 3 hours. Remove crust from freezer.
• Place reserved resealable plastic bag with chocolate ganache in microwave and heat in 5-second intervals just until smooth and pourable. Using scissors, cut off very small tip from corner of bag with ganache. Pipe ganache decoratively over caramel filling in crosshatch pattern. Chill until chocolate is set, about 20 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled. Bring tart to room temperature before serving.
• Remove sides from tart pan. Place tart on platter. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Between 2 sheets of wax paper roll out dough into a 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to a baking sheet and chill 10 minutes. Lift top sheet of wax paper from dough and gently replace on top (this will facilitate removal of paper later). Flip dough over, discarding wax paper now on top, and carefully invert dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Lightly press dough up side of rim, using pieces from overhang to patch any holes. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Line shell with foil, folding over edge to cover pastry entirely, and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell on a baking sheet in middle of oven 35 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. If bottom of crust still has patches of translucent undercooked dough, return shell to oven without foil and weights or rice and bake until pastry is completely cooked and golden, 3 to 5 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Reduce temperature to 350°F.
• Coarsely chop nuts. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and honey, stirring, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in nuts and cream. Simmer mixture 1 minute and pour into shell. Bake tart on baking sheet in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until filling is a few shades darker. Cool tart in pan on rack.
• Chop chocolate and in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool chocolate slightly and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip (slightly smaller than 1/8 inch). (Alternatively, transfer chocolate to a small heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Squeeze chocolate into one corner of bag and with scissors cut a tiny slice off corner to form a small hole.) Pipe thin lines of chocolate over tart in a back and forth motion to form stripes. Tart may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Serve caramel tart chilled or at room temperature with ice cream and tuiles.