Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tart

For the Salted Caramel:

280 g brown sugar (or white)

130 ml cream

200 g butter

1 tsp flakey sea salt

Place ⅓ of the sugar in a heavy based saucepan and melt over a medium heat, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon, add the next third of sugar and melt, then at the last third and melt completely.

Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sugar is an amber caramel.

Add the cream slowly and carefully as the mixture will boil up quickly

The temperature should be 118 °C

Remove from heat and stir in the butter to stop the cooking.

Cool and sprinkle in some flakey sea salt.

For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:

2 Cups Flour

100g butter softened

¾ cup icing sugar

2 egg yolks

¼ cup ice cold water

pinch of salt

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick.

Add butter and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl and beat until smooth.

Flatten the dough to a disc, cover with cling wrap and chill for 2 hours.

Building the Tart:

Take your disc of chilled dough and lay out on a lightly floured surface, roll out to 2-3mm thick. Line a tart tin with baking paper. Cut out a circle of pastry using  the base of the tart tin as your template.

Lay the pastry circle at the bottom of the tart tin.

Take an egg and whisk it, brush the bottom of the tart with the egg to seal it and press a 5cm strip of pastry onto the base and against the side of your tart tin all the way around.

Cover the pastry with baking paper, weigh  it down with rice (as shown), dried beans or pastry ceramic balls if you have them. This is so the pastry doesn’t rise when you “blind bake” the pastry shell.

Bake at 160°C for 30-40 minutes, cool.

Pour the salted caramel filling into the cooked cooled pastry shell and set in the fridge for 2 hours.

Make a chocolate ganache with:

150g dark chocolate

25g butter

100ml cream

Heat the cream, chocolate an butter in a pot on a low heat until melted, or in a bowl in the microwave on a medium heat setting 50% power for 4 minutes, until melted. Stir until smooth and combined,  pour over set caramel. Leave to cool and set at room temperature.

Garnish and serve with fresh berries and ice cream, cream or yoghurt.