A simply fantastic tart for those who love chocolate, caramel, and all things sweet.

Ingredients

base:
250 g fine spelt flour
60 g golden caster sugar
pinch of sea salt
vanilla powder or paste to taste
160 g cold butter
40 ml water
1 tbsp lemon juice

caramel:
250 g white sugar
60 ml water
100 ml sweet cream
50 g cold butter
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
pinch of fleur de sel or Himalaya salt

topping:
360 ml sweet cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds only
250 g dark chocolate, in small pieces
50 g butter, in pieces

Prepare

In a bowl, place the flour, sugar, salt, and, if using, vanilla powder. Coarsely grate the butter into the flour. Work the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can prepare the dough with a mixer using the paddle attachment – place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix on medium speed. Crumbs will form in a while. Add milk, lemon juice, and, if using, vanilla paste and lightly knead until you get a light dough. Don’t over mix or the tart will not be crumbly, but hard. Cover the dough in cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°. Line a 23 cm pan with parchment paper. Roll out the dough, place it in the pan, and press into the bottom and along the sides. Place parchment paper along the bottom with baking beans and blind bake for 12 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 7‒9 minutes, until the base is ready. Remove and cool completely.

For the caramel, pour sugar into a pot, add water, and heat on low heat. Do not mix, but occasionally swirl the pot in a circular motion. When the sugar has melted and has started to bubble, turn up the heat to medium and heat until it turns brown. Turn the heat up again and boil until the caramel turns the colour of amber. Remove from heat, add cream (careful – it will sputter!), and stir until the mixture is uniform in consistency and colour. Add butter, vanilla, and salt and heat on low until the butter melts. Transfer to another dish and cool.

For the top layer, heat the cream in a pot with the vanilla seeds until it just starts to boil. Add the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Mix until uniform, add butter, let rest again for 1 minute, and then mix.

Pour the caramel on the tart shell and smooth. Pour the chocolate over and smooth. Place in the fridge to set. At this point, you can decorate the tart with nuts or other things, as desired. Let the tart sit for at least 12 h, but 24 h is better. Serve.

Recipe: Signe Meirane
Photo: Armands Meirans
From my book Crazy About

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