Chocolate Salted Caramel Tarts – A buttery chocolate crust with a soft caramel filling, topped with chocolate ganache and flaky sea salt. Something that every chocolate and caramel fan should taste.
Looking for a decadent treat?
Welcome to the Sugar Apron, the place where chocolate and caramel dreams are made and come true.
If you’re looking for an incredibly impressive dessert that has a wonderful balance of sweet and salty, and varying textures, this is your recipe. Plus, each component can be completed easily and relatively quickly, which makes this a perfect recipe for assembling ahead of time. The most difficult part is to wait for it to set so you can finally enjoy it.
This Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart is one of the biggest tests of willpower that I know. It’s dangerous, dangerous stuff.
Let me show you how to make it!
It has three parts to it, the chocolate crust, caramel, and chocolate ganache, but they’re all very easy.
How to Make Chocolate Salted Caramel Tarts
Make the buttery chocolate crust by mixing the flour with cocoa powder, sugar and salt.
Incorporate butter to the flour mixture, using a pastry blender, add egg and the ice water.
Flatten the dough into disk and chill.
Roll out the dough and using a 3 1/2 inch round cookie cutter cut rounds out. Press each circle into the wells of a standard cupcake tin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.
Prick the dough with a fork, line a parchment paper over the each cupcake well, and fill with dry beans, rice or pie weights.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the cupcake pan.
Make the caramel by cooking sugar(be careful not to burn), once it’s amber in color, add butter. Then add heavy cream. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt.
Let the caramel cool slightly and pour it into the tart crust. Then let it chill until firm.
Make the Chocolate ganache Combine heavy cream and chopped chocolate, then spread it all over the top of the caramel. Then let it chill until firm.
Sprinkle with sea salt crystals.
It’s a great recipe to make either for a dinner party at home or for taking it to a party,
because it can be made ahead and it sits out well, plus it’s bite-sized dessert so it can be enjoyed by many people. And the entire platter always disappears early into the party.
Chocolate Salted Caramel Tarts
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into small (1/2-inch) cubes
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tbsp ice water
FOR THE CARAMEL
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature cut up into 6 pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp salt
FOR THE GANACHE
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz extra-bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- Sea salt crystals or kosher salt for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix flour with cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Incorporate butter to the flour mixture, using a pastry blender, a fork or a pastry processor, until crumbs are formed. Mix in the egg. Add the ice water a tablespoon at a time and mix swiftly and gently.
- Flatten the dough into disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hour or overnight.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to about 1/4 inches thick. Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter (approximately 3.5 inches diamater) cut rounds out.
- Gently press each circle into the wells of a standard cupcake tin. Re-roll and cut scraps as needed until you've filled 9 wells in the cupcake tin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Prick the dough with a fork, line a parchment paper over the each cupcake well. Fill with dry beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights and the parchment paper, and return to oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the cupcake pan.
- Heat sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Sugar will form clumps and melt into a thick brown, amber liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn.
- Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2 minutes. Very slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream while stirring. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils. Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Let the caramel cool slightly and pour into cooled tart shells(about 3 tablespoons) and refrigerate until firm, around 4 hours.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the caramel. Spread it evenly and refrigerate for another 2-3 hours before serving. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve.
Just a couple of questions, 1. Could you turn a mini cupcake pan upside down and form the dough over the Wells then cover with parchment and place a cookie sheet over it to keep it flat during baking? And 2. Could you just melt caramels in the microwave and use that for the filling?
Hi Sandy, It is a great idea, and i believe it could work, but it needs to be put in the fridge after shaping, cuz the dough is quite sticky. And as for the caramel, I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
These look fabulous! Do they freeze well?
Hi Marilyn, It also freezes great, just bring to room temp before serving. I’ve only frozen it for a couple of weeks but see no reason why it wouldn’t keep for several months. I’m glad that you like it
Dear Sarah Kozowski, I am so anxious to try this recipe for your chocolate caramel tarts. Chocolate/Caramel are my favorite combination when I have a sweet tooth which I have a lot but I am supposed to be losing about 20# . I may have to bake them just once and then go on my diet. It sounds a little complicated to me because I don’t usually like to bake. I am a lover of cooking meals much more than desserts but these look soooo yummy. I am going to tackle them. Sincerely, Sandy Pewe (Payway)
Directions are very confusing. Just finished rolling out the dough and not sure why it is necessary. Dough was very pliable and could be just formed in the cupcake tin with a ball of dough. Unsure of how much parchment paper needed on top of each dough? Why does it need to be weighted? I am hoping for the best with a finished product.