Tuesday with Dorie: Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart plus Chocolate Caramel Bars


Carla of Chocolate Moosey chose Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart for this Tuesday with Dorie group baking event and what a great selection! Caramel made from scratch, mixed with honey toasted peanuts (coarsely chopped) and topped with a dark and shiny ganache...the kind of dessert to show off to anyone who will pay attention and who wouldn't? I made my tarts into miniatures just because. Alright, I have several reasons. I have these adorable little tart pans with removable bottoms "and" small tarts are easier to transport and share at work. The adorable-ness (is this a word?) factor brought in high points!

Baking with the TWD group has helped my self-confidence in the kitchen beyond words. There are times I see an aspect of a recipe and my first reaction will be to shy away because I know the recipe will go beyond my comfort zone in the kitchen. Making real caramel is one of the challenges I have backed away from in the past. Following Dorie's directions for advanced preparation really made the caramel process approachable and once I read the recipe about 150 times, I was ready to jump in.
The butter was frozen ahead of time and ready to be chopped.
I made Dorie's Almond Sweet Tart Dough on page 444 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking book, pressed the dough into the tartlet pans, froze the dough for about 1 hour, then baked the shells.

All ingredient for the caramel were assembled, including a heatproof bowl. I was surprised at still being a little nervous. Other fellow baker's low points when making caramel have stuck with me so I was really hoping for success.
Stage 1 of making the caramel was melting the sugar and getting a little golden color.
Stage 2 was adding the corn syrup and boiling the syrup until the color reached a deep caramel hue.
Stage 3, and last part to the caramel process, was adding the butter and salt (I used unsalted butter), lowering the temperature and allowing to boil for 2 minutes. The caramel is poured into the heatproof bowl, my heart is no longer racing and guess what? We made caramel! The fear factor was so much worse. I know it is silly to be worried over such things but we are dealing with molten lava here!
Semi-sweet Callebaut chocolate was chopped, put into a bowl with hot, heavy cream poured over the pieces, and chunks of butter swirled in leaving a shiny and smooth finish. The wooden spoon was taste tested after completing this process.
Chopped honey roasted peanuts were added to the caramel and the assembly of the tarts is almost over. The final step was pouring the delicious ganache to the tart's crust edge and Ta Daaa....we all now have Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tarts!
To get the recipe now, goto Carla of Chocolate Moosey's blog or buy Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours cookbook. To see how all the rest of the TWD bakers did, check out the TWD baker blogroll.
A chocolate fix must have been in order because I also baked Super Chocolate Caramel Bars. These Kraft caramels have been sitting in the kitchen, taunting me to do something with them for over a month. Well, I did something with them! A friend from Group Recipes posted this and stated that she found the recipe on cdkitchen.com. Delicious and gooey.
Super Chocolate Caramel Bars
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Miracle Whip (found in the salad dressing section)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 package (14oz size) caramels
1/4 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F
Beat eggs, sugars, Miracle Whip and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer; add flour and baking soda.
Set aside 1 cup of the batter.
Spread remaining batter into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool 10 minutes.
Melt caramels with milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth.
Top crust with caramel mixture; sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans.
Spoon reserved 1 cup batter by teaspoonfuls over pecans
Continue baking 12 - 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool, refrigerate for about 1 hour, then cut into squares.

Comments

I like the chocolate caramel bars, look yummy and easy to prepare.
ann low said…
I really love this...especially with your frame by frame instructions :D
chocolatechic said…
Your mini tarts are just adorable.
Flourchild said…
Wow They look perfect. I like the Caramel bars too..yum!
Valerie Gamine said…
Your little tartlets are adorable! And great job with the caramel, you were brave to take pictures of the process!:)
Joy said…
Your tarts are beautiful - just perfect! Your co-workers must love you!
MacDuff said…
Oh good lord, those caramel bars look AWESOME! Thank you for the recipe - they're going on my queue!
Soy*Baby said…
Glad the caramel was a success. I was a bit nervous too but it came together easily following the directions. I love minis too because they are so adorable. Thanks for stopping by.
Shandy, Thanks for the link for pastry, I will try out soon.
Pamela said…
Your finished tarts look perfect. I love the picture showing the inside of the tart. And those cookies you made look a bit on the dangerous side!
Romaine said…
This is my first time to your blog. Your tarts look delicious but your header really caught my eye. Did you make that cannoli?
Shandy said…
Sonia, thank you for the compliment and you are most welcome for the link.

Anncoo, flourchild, chocolatechic, Valerina, and Joy thank you, I had fun with this tart too. Delicious!
Shandy said…
MacDuff, the bars are delicious and even better when you freeze them before eating. I have even cut them into small chunks and add it to ice cream. Thank you.

Kim, thank you for stopping by too...the mini tarts were fun.

Pamela, thank you and you are sooo right, the bars are addictive.

Romaine, I found a photo of cannoli that I loved and went out of my way to duplicate. The cannoli shells are actually purchased so I kind of cheated =)
margot said…
Your mini tarts turned out fabulous! Great job with the caramel, I admire that you could get such great progress shots, I'm always afraid I will burn mine if I turn for one second.
Heather said…
Beautiful tarts! Wish mine had turned out like this.
Jeannette said…
yumyum. your tart looks great!!
Eliana said…
Glad you went out of your comfort those with these tarts Shandy because they look incredible.
Shandy said…
Margot, I was having too much fun with the caramel. I was being all cocky and almost burnt my caramel!

Heather, Your cute little tarts were to die for and I think we should trade tarts =).

Jeanette, Thank you!

Elianna, I think we do some of our best baking when we go out of our cooking/baking zone...unless we flub up =).
spike. said…
that's a lot of chocolate and caramel- love it all!
TeaLady said…
Your tart and bars look scrumptious. This was a fun challenge - learning to make a good caramel, etc.

love that you used the almonds pastry.
Shandy said…
Spike, is the chocolate and carmel not just beautiful together? A little rich but we loved it. Thank you =).

TeaLady, Thank you and I totally loved your caramel crunch bits on top of your tarts! If fact, your photos look so edible.

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