As promised, the salted caramel chocolate tart I made for last week’s party. It’s a recipe very dear to my heart as it got me onto Masterchef. I made a trio of chocolate puds for my filmed audition – salted caramel dark chocolate tart, milk chocolate mousse layered with mascarpone cream and a basil infused raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake (the cheesecake didn’t set so I served it upside down in an espresso cup):

I’ll post the recipe for all three at a later date, but in the meantime here is the salted caramel chocolate tart. The recipe comes from Rachel Allen (famous Irish TV cook; think blond, Irish Nigella) and is difficulty level ‘high’. But so, SO worth it. Hell it’s a Masterchef level dish so if you really want to impress anyone, this is definitely worth doing. (I’ve yet to come across anyone who didn’t swoon with delight upon eating it).

Ingredients:

For the sweet shortcrust pastry

• 200g plain flour
• 100g chilled butter (cubed, plus extra for greasing)
• 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
• a lightly beaten (large) egg

For the caramel:

• 225 g caster sugar
• 100 g chilled butter (cubed)
• 100ml double cream
• 1 heaped teaspoon of sea salt flakes

For the chocolate layer:

• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 250g dark chocolate
• 150 g butter (cubed)

Method:

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

1) Pulse the flour, butter and icing sugar in a food processor briefly until the butter is in small lumps. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz for another few seconds or until the mixture looks as though it may come together when pressed. Prolonged processing will only toughen the pastry, so don’t whiz it up until it is a ball of dough. You may need to add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together.

If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar until it resembles coarse breadcrumb,s then using your hands add just enough egg to bring it together.

Reserve any leftover egg to use later.

2) With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick, then wrap in cling film or place in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3) After 30 minutes, butter a 23cm deep loose-bottomed, fluted tart tin and remove the pastry from the fridge. Roll it out to fit the tart tin, no thicker than 5mm. Rachel recommends putting it in between two sheets of clingflim but I’ve tried this and it makes rolling the pasty bloody difficult. I’d suggest just using enough flour on your surface and rolling pin to keep it from sticking.

4) Once your pastry is large and thin enough to fit your tart tin, roll it up round the rolling pin. Then unroll it over the tart tin, with the tin centrally beneath the pastry. Press the pastry into the edges of the tin (a good trick for doing this is to use a small ball of the pastry as a damper, rather than your fingers). Then using your thumb, ‘cut’ the pastry along the edge of the tin (press down onto the edge of the tin and the excess pastry falls away) for a neat finish. Prick the base all over with a fork and chill the pastry in the fridge for another 30 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes.

5) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Remove the pastry from the fridge and line with foil, greaseproof paper or baking parchment, leaving plenty to come over the sides. Fill with baking beans or dried pulses, then place in the oven and bake blind for 15–20 minutes or until the base of the pastry case feels dry. Remove from the oven, take out the baking beans and foil/paper, brush the base of the pastry with any leftover beaten egg, and cook in the oven for another 3 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside:

For the caramel:

6) Put the sugar and 75ml water into a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter and stir until it melts. Increase the heat to medium and allow to bubble away, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is a light toffee colour. Mix in the cream and sea salt and boil for another 2–3 minutes until slightly thickened. Allow to cool. (NB this sounds straightforward. It is *not*. You need to stand over the molten sugar and butter, stirring and watching like a HAWK. The first time I did it it took me four gos to get it right. It burns and crystallises very, very quickly. Take it off the heat as soon as it is toffee coloured or it will burn and crystalise and you’ll have to start again).

For the chocolate layer:

7) Whisk the sugar, eggs and egg yolks until thickened and creamy in colour. Gently melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave to cool for a minute and then add this to the sugar and egg mixture and whisk until glossy:

8) Spread the caramel over the cooled pastry base:

9) Spoon over the chocolate mixture, spreading it evenly.

10) Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until it is almost set but still a bit wobbly. Allow to cool in the tin for 40–45 minutes before removing from the tin and serving in slices. Yum (and then some!)

[Some people like to put cream over their slices. I think that is inherently wrong as you don’t need it, but each to their own.]