Sea Salted Chocolate Pecan Tart Food

SEA-SALTED CHOCOLATE & PECAN TART

Steps:

• To make the pastry, cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or in an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks and 35ml water and mix well until all the liquid has been incorporated. Gradually mix in the flour and cocoa powder until a paste is formed. It will be quite a soft dough.
• Wrap the pastry in foil, flatten it with your hand and chill for 1 hr. The pastry can be made two days ahead, though in this case, you may want to remove it from the fridge for a few minutes before rolling to soften it.
• Sprinkle your work surface with a light dusting of flour and roll out the pastry until it's about 5mm thick. Line a 23cm tart tin with the pastry using the rolling pin to help you lift it over, pushing the pastry well into the edges and folding the excess over the top. Trim off the excess. Chill for 15 mins to relax the pastry and to help prevent it from shrinking during cooking.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the tart with a sheet of baking parchment (scrunch it up first to soften it), then tip in baking beans, rice or lentils and bake blind for 15 mins. Lift out the beans and bake for a further 10-12 mins until the base is dry. Allow to cool.
• To make the filling, put all the ingredients in a glass or metal mixing bowl, place it over a pan of very hot water and allow them to melt together until glossy and thick. Pour into the cooled pastry case and chill for 4 hrs or overnight.
• For the topping, heat the sugar in a saucepan on a medium heat, tilt the pan rather than stirring, until you have an even golden liquid caramel. Add the salt and mix well with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Pour in the pecans and, mixing thoroughly, quickly pour the mixture on to a piece of baking parchment and spread out with the back of the spoon. Allow to cool thoroughly, then break or chop up into shards or chunky pieces to sprinkle over the ganache.
• Cut the tart with a hot, wet knife for perfect, restaurant-quality slices. Recipe adapted from Adventures with Chocolate by Paul A Young (£14.99, Kyle Books). Photographs © Anders Schønnemann.

CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL PECAN TART

Steps:

• Crust: Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt until combined. Beat butter with confectioners' sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined and crumbly (do not overmix). Pat dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days, or freeze up to 1 month.
• On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. With a paring knife, trim dough flush with rim; refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes.
• Blind-bake crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick bottom of tart all over with a fork. Bake until set and dough is dry, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Filling: Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring gently, until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, occasionally washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook until syrup is amber in color, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully add heavy cream (caramel will steam and spatter). Add butter, vanilla, salt, and chocolate; stir until melted and smooth. Add pecans; stir until combined. Transfer mixture to tart crust. Let stand until set and cool, about 2 hours. Tart can be served room-temperature or refrigerated, uncovered, up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes and sprinkle with flaky salt before serving.

SALTED-CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400ºF.
• Unroll pie crust; sprinkle with half the flour. Turn; sprinkle with remaining flour. Press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate; flute edge.
• Whisk next 5 ingredients until blended. Stir in nuts; pour into crust. Sprinkle with chocolate.
• Bake 15 min. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF. Continue baking 30 to 35 min. or until top is puffed and lightly browned. Cool completely, sprinkling with salt after 15 min.