Macadamia Caramel Tart Recipes

Steps:

• For the sweet pastry, put the flour, almonds, icing sugar, salt and vanilla seeds into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and pulse again until fully combined. If the pastry isn't coming together into a uniform mass, add chilled water, 1 tsp at a time, and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Be careful not to overwork the dough as you will make the pastry tough, and it's likely to shrink more when cooked. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and lightly knead until smooth and uniform in colour. Wrap in cling film and chill until needed.
• To make the caramelised white chocolate, heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas ½. Put the chocolate on a large baking tray and bake for 45 mins-1 hr, giving it a good stir every 10 mins, until it's a light golden brown - almost the colour of peanut butter. After 45 mins or so, the chocolate may start to look chalky or seized, but should become smooth again after a good stir. If not, don't worry, as it will be melted again in the next stage. Scrape the chocolate into a bowl, cover and set aside.
• For the bavarois, pour the milk into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk together. Put the gelatine in a small bowl of cold water and leave to soften for 3-5 mins. Once the milk has come to the boil, pour onto the egg mixture while whisking quickly together to prevent the eggs scrambling. Pour back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens (if you have an instant-read thermometer, it should be 75-80C). Pour the custard into a bowl and add 150g of the caramelised chocolate and the gelatine (squeezing out the water), stirring until both have melted. Sieve through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps from the chocolate. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill until the custard has cooled and started to set around the side of the bowl - but don't leave for too long or it will set completely. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks and carefully fold this through the custard until smooth and fully combined. Pour the mixture into the holes of your silicone dome mould and carefully place in the freezer until frozen solid (best left overnight).
• Now bake your tart cases. Remove the pastry from the fridge and allow to soften slightly for 15 mins before rolling out until it is around 2mm thick. Cut out rounds of pastry just larger than the 6 tartlet cases and use to carefully line. Place the lined cases onto a parchment-lined baking tray and chill in the fridge or freezer until the pastry is firm. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the tarts with a piece of parchment and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake the tarts for 20 mins, then remove the parchment and beans, and bake for a further 5-10 mins until the bases of the tarts start to brown. Allow the tarts to cool fully.
• For the ginger macadamia caramel, put the cream and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid, allowing the ginger to infuse into the cream for 1 hr. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve into a measuring jug, topping back up to 120ml if needed. Put the sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and cook until the sugar has melted and caramelised, swirling but not stirring, until it is a dark caramel colour. Pour in half the cream - be careful as this mixture will bubble up violently. Once the caramel has settled, add in the remaining cream, stirring over the heat if any lumps have formed. Add the butter and ¾ of the nuts, and stir to combine. Once the caramel has cooled slightly, divide it between the tart shells.
• For the glaze, put the remaining 225g of caramelised white chocolate in a bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour over the chocolate, stirring until you have a smooth, pourable glaze. Remove the bavarois domes from the freezer and carefully unmould, placing them on a wire rack set over a baking tray. While the glaze is still warm and fluid, pour over the domes, making sure the entire surface is covered. Using a small palette knife, lift the domes from the rack and carefully place on top of the tarts.
• To decorate, chop the remaining nuts so they are fairly fine, then press around the base of the domes where they sit on the tarts. Chill for 30 mins (or up to 24 hrs) to allow the bavarois to defrost before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan with a circle of parchment paper.
• In an electric mixer, beat together all the crust ingredients until smooth and creamy. Pour the batter into the prepared tart pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until the crust is set.
• For the filling, combine the butter, agave nectar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. The mixture should reach 250°F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream, nuts, and vanilla extract. Pour into the prebaked crust and return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly.
• Important note: place the tart pan on a baking sheet before placing in the oven. This will prevent the caramel from dripping inside your oven and make it easier to remove the hot tart from the oven.
• Cool the tart to room temperature, then refrigerate for 4 or more hours. It will look a bit gooey at first, but the caramel hardens when refrigerated. When the tart has set, carefully cut out wedges, remembering to peel off the parchment paper. This tart is difficult to remove as a whole from the pan because of the hardened caramel topping, so you'll need to cut it into individual pieces to serve. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

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:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/4 cup sugar until pale, about 3 minutes; beat in egg.
• In a separate bowl, mix flour and cocoa powder. Using a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture and gather the dough into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in waxed paper; refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out chilled dough into a 10 inch round and about 1/4 inch thickness. Transfer dough to an 8 inch tart pan, pressing dough evenly into pan; prick all over with a fork and freeze for 10 minutes.
• Bake tart shell in preheated oven for 12 minutes; transfer to a rack to cool.
• To make caramel: In a small saucepan over low heat, bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a simmer. In a heavy medium saucepan over high heat, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar in small amounts, stirring constantly, until it melts and turns golden brown. Remove saucepan from heat and slowly stir in hot cream; stir in 2 tablespoons butter and allow mixture to cool.
• To make chocolate cream: In a medium bowl, combine semisweet chocolate and liqueur. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream to a boil and pour it over chocolate; stir mixture with a wooden spoon until chocolate is melted and very smooth.
• Reserve 13 whole macadamia nuts and chop the rest. Pour cooled caramel into the cooled tart shell and spread evenly with a metal spatula; sprinkle chopped nuts over caramel. Pour chocolate cream on top and spread evenly.
• Arrange 10 whole nuts around the edge of the tart to mark 10 slices; place remaining 3 nuts in the center. Refrigerate the tart for 1 hour or until firm; serve.

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.