Name: Guillaume Brahimi’s salted caramel and chocolate ganache tart
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 10 - 12
Ingredients: 150 gm butter, diced, at room temperature; 100 gm pure icing sugar; 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped; 30 gm (¼ cup) almond meal; 1 egg; 250 gm (1 ⅔) cup plain flour, sifted; Caramel filling; 105 gm caster sugar; 50 gm liquid glucose; 210 ml pouring cream; 1 titanium-strength gelatine leaf; 65 gm chilled butter, diced; 2 tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve; Dark chocolate ganache; 250 gm dark chocolate (66%-70% cocoa solids; preferably Valrhona), finely chopped; 310 gm pouring cream; 30 gm liquid glucose; 65 gm cold butter, diced

Guillaume Brahimi’s salted caramel and chocolate ganache tart

It doesn't get much better than praise-worthy dessert.

Serves 10 - 12

Prep

20M

Cook

40M

Total

With a fine pastry base, golden caramel filling and dark chocolate ganache, this tart is the complete package. Bake it now.

Ingredients

150 gm butter, diced, at room temperature

100 gm pure icing sugar

1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

30 gm (¼ cup) almond meal

1 egg

250 gm (1 ⅔) cup plain flour, sifted

Caramel filling

105 gm caster sugar

50 gm liquid glucose

210 ml pouring cream

1 titanium-strength gelatine leaf

65 gm chilled butter, diced

2 tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve

Dark chocolate ganache

250 gm dark chocolate (66%-70% cocoa solids; preferably Valrhona), finely chopped

310 gm pouring cream

30 gm liquid glucose

65 gm cold butter, diced

Method

1.For pastry, beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Fold through almond meal and a pinch of salt. Add egg and mix until just combined, then gradually add flour, being careful not to overmix. Bring together into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.

2.For caramel filling, scatter sugar evenly in a saucepan over high heat. Cook, swirling pan, until dark caramel (3-5 minutes), then carefully stir in glucose. Meanwhile, bring cream to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour cream into caramel (be careful; hot caramel will spit) and stir occasionally until it reaches 106°C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat and cool until about 50°C. Soften gelatine in a bowl of cold water (5 minutes), then squeeze water from gelatine, add to pan, and blend in with a hand-held blender, or beat in vigorously. Add butter and blend again until smooth. Spoon into a piping bag without a nozzle and cool.

3.Meanwhile, roll out pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to 4mm-thick and line a 26cm-diameter loose-bottomed fluted tart tin. Trim edges then refrigerate to rest (2 hours).

4.Preheat oven to 160°C. Blind-bake tart until golden (20-25 minutes). Remove paper and weights and bake until base is set and cooked through (5-10 minutes). Cool tart (in tin) on a wire rack, then pipe caramel into base and chill to firm up (30 minutes).

5.For dark chocolate ganache, place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Bring cream and glucose to the boil in a saucepan, pur cream over chocolate, stand for 10 seconds, then stir to melt and combine. Stir in cold butter until smooth, being careful not to overmix, then cool to room temperature. Spread chocolate ganache over caramel and chill to cool and set (2 hours). Sprinkle tart with salt flakes to serve. Tart is best eaten on the day of making but will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 days.

Guillaume Brahimi

Styling by Lisa Featherby