Recipes
Claudia Fleming’s Chocolate Caramel Tart With Peanuts
Makes one 9-inch tart
I started making this tart when I was working at Gramercy Tavern. It’s so good that I’ve never stopped. I did, however, try something new: I added salted peanuts to the filling. What took me so long?
Image Credits
Photo by Johnny Miller
Ingredients
For the chocolate crust
- 1 recipe Chocolate Dough (recipe below)
- 114 grams unsalted butter (4 ounces)
- 120 grams all-purpose flour (4.2 ounces, about ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 0.7 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt (¼ teaspoon)
- 20 grams good-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder, such as Cacao Barry Extra Brute (0.7 ounces, about ¼ cup)
- 65 grams confectioners’ sugar (2.3 ounces, about ½ cup)
- 1 large egg yolk
for the filling
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 300 grams sugar (10.6 ounces, about 1½ cups)
- 85 grams unsalted butter (3 ounces), diced, room temperature
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- Pinch of Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ¾ tsp vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract
- 100 grams salted peanuts (3.5 ounces, about ⅔ cup), coarsely chopped
for the ganache
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 113 grams bittersweet chocolate (4 ounces), chopped
Method
- To make the crust: Follow the instructions for the chocolate dough recipe below. Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper into a thin round about 12 inches across and no thicker than ⅛ inch. Gently release the dough from time to time as you work. Fit the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. (The easiest approach: Slide the bottom of the pan under the rolled-out dough, fold it loosely over the edges, drop the bottom into the pan, then unfold the dough and fit it to the pan.) Trim the dough, using the trimmings to patch any thin spots. Chill the crust for 15 minutes in the freezer or at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- To blind-bake the crust: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the crust with tin foil and then fill it with pie weights (dried beans or rice work). Bake the crust until it looks set, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the crust is fully cooked, about 20 minutes more. Allow the crust to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
- To make the filling: First make a caramel by putting the corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cooking it over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges. Stir in a third (100 grams/3.5 ounces) of the sugar. When it begins to look like wet sand, add another third (100 grams/3.5 ounces) of the sugar; continue cooking until that begins to dissolve, then add the remaining 100 grams (3.5 ounces) sugar. Cook the caramel without stirring until it turns deep amber, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the butter, a piece at a time. Whisk in the crème fraîche, salt, and vanilla. Whisk the caramel until it is smooth. Stir in the peanuts and immediately pour the caramel into the tart shell. Set it aside to cool to room temperature.
- To make the ganache: Bring the cream to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Put the chopped chocolate in a liquid measuring cup. Using a rubber spatula—not a whisk, because it is important here to avoid incorporating air bubbles—fold the cream into the chocolate and stir just until the ganache is smooth and shiny. Pour the ganache evenly over the cooled caramel. Allow the tart to set for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
- 114 grams unsalted butter (4 ounces), diced, room temperature
120 grams all-purpose flour (4.2 ounces, about ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons)
0.7 grams Diamond Crystal kosher salt (¼ teaspoon)
20 grams good-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder, such as Cacao Barry Extra Brute (0.7 ounces, about ¼ cup)
65 grams confectioners’ sugar (2.3 ounces, about ½ cup)
1 large egg yolk - To make the dough: Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the salt and cocoa powder. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into the mixer bowl, then cream the butter and sugar together. Scrape down the bowl, then add the yolk; scrape down again, then, with the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a third at a time, scraping down as necessary.
chocolate dough
ingredients
Divider
Reprinted with permission from Delectable: Sweet & Savory Baking by Claudia Fleming. Copyright © 2022 by Claudia Fleming. Photographs copyright © 2022 by Johnny Miller. Excerpted by permission of Random House.Links
| Title | CHECK OUT claudia’s LATEST book |
| Image |
 |
| Button | buy the book |
| Description | We'd love for you to order from your favorite bookstore! If you order from our shop, please note, some of the items we link to may earn us a small commission. |
| Title | Claudia CHATs ALL THINGS chocolate tartWITH JESSIE SHEEHAN ON SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE |
| Image |
 |
| Button | LISTEN HERE |
