birthdays and tarts! part II

For M's birthday - a fat duck and this little chocolate tart. The crust is from the banana cream tarts and the chocolate ganache from the same recipe is spiked with a few teaspoons of Bailey Irish Cream. I also broke up pieces of hazelnut brittle to add to the bottom of the tart. The assembly was easy. Tart shell, brittle, chocolate ganache. Topped it off with a few small shards of caramel sugar.

Hazelnut Brittle (adapted from Bobby Flay)

1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp butter
pinch salt
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped or halved


Heat sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until it becomes a medium amber in color. Stir in butter and hazelnut. Spread onto a greased pan and allow the mixture to cool. Break into smaller pieces.

Daring Bakers - Caramel Cake

November's challenge features Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater and her signature caramel cake with caramelized butter frosting. There's something so appropriate about the rich dark flavor of caramel in this season, something warm and welcoming. Of course, I'm baking under the sunny and cloudless skies of southern California, so it doesn't quite have its autumn feel, but it's a wonderful choice regardless. Thank you to Dolores (Culinary Curiosity), Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie Duo), and Jenny (Foray into Food) for hosting.

Caramel Cake
From http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2006 … he-recipe/

10 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup caramel syrup (see below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
a splash vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a tall 9" round cake pan.

Beat butter at high speed until light. Add in sugar and salt and cream until airy and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into the butter and sugar mixture. Scrap down bowl and increase speed. Add beaten eggs and vanilla a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrap down bowl again and beat until light and uniform.

Sift together flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to the lowest setting and add in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat until just combined and slowly add in 1/2 of the milk. Beat until incorporated and add in another 1/3 of the flour, the other half of the milk, and finish with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure the batter is uniform. Pour batter into the prepared 9" pan, and place pan on a baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes. Rotate cake and bake for another 15-20 minutes. The cake is done when the sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the midde comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

Caramel Syrup

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (to "stop" the caramel)

In a tall stainless steel saucepan, mix 1/2 cup water with the sugar until mixture resembles wet sand. Brush any stray sugar crystals into the mixture. Turn the heat onto high and cook until smoking slightly. The syrup should be dark amber.

Once color is achieved, slowly add in 1 cup of water. Caramel will sputter and jump, so be very careful. It's helpful to wear oven mitts and to use a lid when adding the water.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly. It'll feel sticky on your fingers (make sure caramel has cooled before testing this). The resulting mixture should resemble warmed maple syrup. Store at room temperature for up to a few days (it'll thicken).

Caramelized Butter Frosting

12 tbsp unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted
4-6 tbsp heavy cream OR 2-4 tbsp caramel syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
salt to taste

Melt butter in a pan and cook until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve and let cool.

Pour cooled butter into a mixing bowl, add in vanilla, and start adding in confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take more, add in some cream or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture is smooth and all the sugar is incorporated. Salt to taste.

v

Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tartlettes

A friend of mine ordered something for me a few months ago, and in return asked me to simply bake for him. I guess I was flattered that he held my baking skills in such high regard that he would take that over actual payment. He wanted something chocolatey. And so here it is, a little late, but nonetheless a sign of my appreciation. For you, my creme-brulee-loving friend, is Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart.

This is great in small doses, rich with chocolate, cream and butter. It's simple yet very decadent.


Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart

Sweet Tart Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus
1 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces and frozen) 1 large egg yolk

Caramel:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, sifted
1 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tbsp salted butter (at room temperature and cut small)
a pinch salt if using unsalted butter

Ganache:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature and cut small)

3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

To Make Sweet Tart Dough:
Put flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Scatter pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until butter is coarsely cut in. Stir the yolk and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in process in long pulses (about 10 seconds each) until the dough forms clumps. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and lightly knead to incorporate any dry ingredients. Butter a 9-inch fluted pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. You should save a little piece to do patchwork with later. The crust should still be crumbly, just be sure that the edges of the pieces cling to each other. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven for 25 minutes (for a partially baked crust). To fully bake a crust (as in this tart), remove the foil, press down the crust slightly if it has puffed, and bake for another 8 minutes or so, until firm and golden brown.

For the Caramel:
Bring the heavy cream to boil. In another skillet over medium heat, sprinkle in 3 tablespoons of sugar. When it melts, stir with a wooden spatula or fork and sprinkle over another 3 tablespoons. When that sugar has melted, add in another 2 tablespoons. Stir in corn syrup and boil teh syrup until it reaches a deep caramel color. Don't worry if it begins to smoke. Stand back from the skillet and add in butter and salt if you are using it. The caramel will bubble and sputter. When the butter is in, add the warm cream. The caramel will bubble again. Lower the temperature a bit and let the caramel boil for 2 minutes (candy thermometer should read 226 degrees F). Let cool.

For the Ganache:
Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to boil and pour half of it over the chocolate, allowing it to sit for 30 seconds. Stir in concentric circles, starting in the center and working your way outward. Pour in the remaining half of the cream and blend in the chocolate until smooth. Add in the butter piece by piece, stirring just enough to blend the ingredients. The less you work it, the shinier, darker, and smoother the chocolate will be. Cover the ganache with a plastic wrap right up against the surface of the ganache. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate if not using immediately.

To Assemble:
Stir the chopped peanuts into the caramel. If the caramel has cooled too much and turned hard, gently warm it in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Spread the caramel in a thin layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Refrigerate tart for 15 minutes to set the caramel layer. Pour the ganache over the caramel, making sure there are no air bubbles. Refrigerate assembled tart for 30 minutes (no longer) and keep at room temperature until serving time.

That recipe being said, I made a few changes. I made individual tartlettes, and used a different method for making the caramel. Mine is made with caramel candy and a touch of heavy bream, melted together. The resulting caramel will harden quite quickly upon cooling, so I just keep it in the pot I made it, and heat it up briefly before use. I also used pecans instead of peanuts. As for the tart crust, it was ok. I was a little nervous making it because the crust is so crumbly. It is very short-bread like, while I like a tighter, moister crust. The tart, or rather tartlettes, got good reviews.