Caramel Nut Tart With Milk Chocolate And Cognac Cream Food

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• Make the tart dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the cut up pieces of butter and use a pastry cutter to cut into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are no bigger than a pea. (You can use a food processor for this if you want.) Sprinkle with vanilla and add 3 tablespoons of ice water. Use a fork to work the water and vanilla into the dough. (You can use a food processor.) Add up to a tablespoon more of ice water, just enough so that the dough easily sticks together when you pinch it with your fingers. Form the dough into a ball, kneading once or twice if necessary, and flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough disk in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
• Pre-bake the crust: Bake the crust at 375°F for 20 minutes, piercing the bottom with fork if bubbles form. Transfer to a rack to cool.

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in cream cheese and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. , Roll out dough into a 10-in. circle. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom; trim edges., Line unpricked crust with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 400°., For filling, in a small heavy saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread into crust. , Place tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake until bubbly, for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

CARAMEL-NUT TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Have ready two 9-inch tart pans with removable bottoms. Cut out two 12-inch parchment circles, and set aside. Lightly flour a clean work surface. Roll out one disk of pate sucree to a 12-inch circle with a 1/4-inch thickness. Roll dough onto rolling pin, and unroll over one of the tart pans. Press pastry into place, being careful not to stretch dough; use a paring knife to trim any overhanging dough. Repeat with remaining disk pate sucree and tart pan. Chill both pans for 30 minutes.
• Line pastry with parchment circles, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until pastry begins to take on color, about 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights; continue baking or until light golden brown all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap in plastic; set aside until ready to use.
• Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Place butter, both sugars, honey, and heavy cream in a large saucepan set over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes. Stir in nuts and vanilla; remove pan from heat. Pour filling into reserved tart shells.
• Bake tarts on the center rack until the filling bubbles, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer tarts to a wire rack to cool.

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Between 2 sheets of wax paper roll out dough into a 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to a baking sheet and chill 10 minutes. Lift top sheet of wax paper from dough and gently replace on top (this will facilitate removal of paper later). Flip dough over, discarding wax paper now on top, and carefully invert dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Lightly press dough up side of rim, using pieces from overhang to patch any holes. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Line shell with foil, folding over edge to cover pastry entirely, and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell on a baking sheet in middle of oven 35 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. If bottom of crust still has patches of translucent undercooked dough, return shell to oven without foil and weights or rice and bake until pastry is completely cooked and golden, 3 to 5 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Reduce temperature to 350°F.
• Coarsely chop nuts. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and honey, stirring, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in nuts and cream. Simmer mixture 1 minute and pour into shell. Bake tart on baking sheet in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until filling is a few shades darker. Cool tart in pan on rack.
• Chop chocolate and in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool chocolate slightly and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip (slightly smaller than 1/8 inch). (Alternatively, transfer chocolate to a small heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Squeeze chocolate into one corner of bag and with scissors cut a tiny slice off corner to form a small hole.) Pipe thin lines of chocolate over tart in a back and forth motion to form stripes. Tart may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Serve caramel tart chilled or at room temperature with ice cream and tuiles.

CARAMEL-NUT TART WITH MILK CHOCOLATE AND COGNAC CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Line the tart pan with the pâte sucrée according to page 196. Prick the bottom with a fork and line it with a few open and fanned out coffee filters or a piece of parchment paper. Fill the lined tart shell with beans or pie weights, and bake 15 minutes, until set. Take the tart out of the oven, and carefully lift out the paper and beans. Return the tart to the oven, and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is an even golden brown. Set the tart on a rack to cool completely.
• Spread the nuts on a baking sheet (keep each type separate) and toast 8 to 12 minutes, until they're golden brown and smell nutty. Some will toast more quickly than others, so watch them carefully and remove the toasted nuts as needed.
• Place the sugar and 1 cup water in a very clean medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar, shaking the pan often to stir-don't use a utensil to stir, as it could cause the sugar to crystallize. Continue cooking and swirling the pan until the caramel is a deep golden brown, just beyond the soft-crack stage (about 310°F on a candy thermometer). It should be a nice dark color, but not burned.
• Remove from the heat, and slowly whisk in 2/3 cup cream, stirring with the whisk the entire time, until the caramel is smooth and the cream is fully incorporated. (Be aware that the caramel will foam up as you add the cream. It's very hot, so be careful and pour slowly.) Allow to cool a few minutes. Place the nuts and honey in a bowl. Pour the caramel over them, and stir to combine well. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pour the mixture into the baked tart shell, to just below the rim. It's important not to overfill the crust. Refrigerate the tart at least 2 hours.
• Melt the milk chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, and stir in 1/3 cup water. Just before serving, whip 1 cup cream and the cognac to soft peaks in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
• Slice the tart in half, and cut one half into twelve thin slices. Refrigerate the rest for leftover snacking. Place one slice at the center of each of six plates. Prop up a second slice on top of the first, setting it at an angle and letting the pointed end of the slice rest on the plate. Continue with the remaining slices. Garnish each with three dollops of the cognac cream, and drizzle the milk chocolate across the tart.
• Note
• The tricky part to this dessert is making the caramel filling. If it cooks too long, it will taste bitter; and if it doesn't cook long enough, it won't achieve that chewy consistency.

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Mix first 4 ingredients; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min. or until lightly browned. Cool.
• Microwave caramels, cream and coffee granules in large microwaveable bowl on MEDIUM (50%) 2 to 3 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring after each minute. Stir in nuts; spread onto bottom of crust.
• Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over tart. Refrigerate until firm.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL COCONUT TARTS

Steps:

• Place 24 frozen tart shells on baking sheets. Let tart shells come to room temperature while you are preparing filling.
• In a double boiler, add chocolate chips, marshmallows and ½ cup evaporated milk. Heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes.
• At the same time, pour ½ cup evaporated milk, coconut milk and corn syrup into a small saucepan and place over lowest heat setting. Do not set any higher! Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a hand blender. Very slowly, beat in the barely-warm evaporated milk and coconut milk mixture. Slowly drizzle in chocolate mixture while beating on low speed. When mixed, stir in toasted sliced almonds and 1 cup shredded coconut.
• Fill each tart almost to the top with chocolate mixture. Put ½ a caramel on top of each filled tart. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, until shells are lightly browned. Immediately sprinkle each tart with 1 teaspoon coconut (optional).
• Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before handling. Serve warm if possible.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Prepare chocolate dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Beat until smooth. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until blended.
• Sift flour into dough mixture. Beat on low speed until combined. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch tart pan. (You can use a 9-inch pan, but the crust will be thicker and the caramel may take longer to set in step 4.)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart with foil, and fill with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, and bake until pastry is dry and set, another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Prepare caramel filling: In a large saucepan, bring sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil. Stir or swirl the pan occasionally, until mixture is a medium amber color, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Caramel will continue to cook and darken off of the heat. Carefully but quickly whisk in the butter, cream, creme fraiche and salt until smooth (mixture will bubble up). Pour hot caramel into tart, and allow to cool and set, at least 1 hour.
• Prepare chocolate glaze: Place chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Pour glaze over tart, tilting tart for even coverage. Refrigerate until tart is set, at least one hour, then sprinkle with a few granules of fleur de sel. Keep refrigerated until serving.