I had a dinner planned at our house for 8 people but with ideas of what to cook for about 20 people. I wrote to my husband to ask for advice on which cake to make. He was busy and did not answer, so I decided to make three – honey (because I was sure my Russian friends would love it), lemon (because I had amazing lemons from a farm in Greece), and chocolate (because I had caramel and amazing chocolate to cook). I have written it out step by step, and it looks hard to bake, but believe me, it is not. The pastry takes 10 minutes to make and then 30 to bake. Ganache 10 min. to make. Caramel – 15. The rest is about taking the time to cool and assembly (5 minutes).

Ingredients

Pastry *
30 g hazelnut flour (or grind them yourself as finely as possible)
160 g wheat flour
pinch of sea salt
30 g powdered sugar
30 g cacao
150 g butter
1 egg yolk
1 tbs water

Caramel (see recipe here)

Ganache
100 g 70% dark chocolates (I use Michel Cluizel)
50 g milk chocolate
160 g whipping cream
30 g cold butter, divided
pinch of sea salt
zest of 1/3 of organic orange
pinch of grated tonka bean

Prepare

Caramel. Make the caramel the day or several days before and refrigerate. You will have more than this tart needs, but I believe there will be no problem consuming the rest.

Pastry. Put the flour, nuts, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Grate the butter on a coarse grater into the flour. Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can also prepare the dough in a food processor with the fine blade – add all the ingredients and process on medium speed until crumbly. Add the egg with water and mix gently until dough is uniform – do not over-knead or the crust will be hard. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or even more. If you refrigerate longer, which is better, take out of the fridge 1 h before using.

Heat the oven to 200°. Take two sheets of baking paper, place the dough in the middle of one, lay other on top, and slowly roll out. The dough is very delicate and can break if you work very fast. Place in a 23 - 25 cm tart form, pressing in the sides and them trimming off the unnecessary dough. Prick with a fork, place in the freezer for 30 minutes, take out, line with baking paper, and fill with baking beans. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.Remove from oven, lift out the paper with beans, and return to the oven for 10 more minutes. Take out and cool completely.

Ganache. In the meantime, make the ganache. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream in a pot until it just begins to bubble and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for 1.5 minutes and then stir until you have a uniform mass. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until the butter melts completely. Put cling film on the surface of the chocolate, not just the rim of the bowl, and place in the fridge until the cream has thickened a bit but is still pourable. It takes around 30 – 45 minutes, exactly the time needed for the tart shell to cool down.

Put the tart together. Spread caramel in a 5 mm layer and pour over the ganache, letting it spread evenly. Place in a cool place to set. If you have time, leave outside for many hours to set and eat at room temperature. If you eat it the next day, take it out of the fridge 2 hours before eating, as this is then when this tart tastes the best. Decorate with truffles (I love Miche Cluizel or Amedei), chocolate covered almonds (I love to use Cudies), and pure cacao.

* if you have any small leftovers, what you will, make these simple cookies.

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s

Chocolate caramel tart