Food: Gizzi Erskine’s Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart

For part one of my cooking with Gizzi Erskine I showed off her fabulous Sweetcorn Fritters, which I tried out again this weekend and they were just as easy to make as at the Nescafe Dolce Gusto event, I might have found my speciality!!! Well you can’t have brunch without finishing it off with something sweet, so Gizzi shared her delicious Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart, which I have to be honest isn’t an every weekend kind of dessert as it does take a couple of hours to prepare and make.

I enjoy making this dish, it would be easier with a mixer, but it still requires a lot more patience than I generally have, and one major tip I would have is don’t take your eyes off the caramel as this is the bit that can easily go wrong. But what I will take away from this recipe is a new confidence in using pastry, I have always been a little scared of pastry, but I did get some great tips from Gizzi and the use of the ceramic baking beans for the blind bake is something I had never heard of before.

Are you confident enough to try Gizzi’s salted caramel chocolate tart?

Salted Carmel Chocolate Tart

Ingredients for chocolate tart:
150g unsalted butter
1 x pack of ready to roll short crust pastry (based on 200g pastry used for tart – 25cm)
160g good quality chocolate (lindt or green & blacks 70%)
8 tbsp cocoa powder
small pinch of salt if required
4 eggs
180g caster sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 tbsp single cream

Ingredients for the caramel:
150g caster sugar
65g unsalted butter, diced
100ml single cream
1 tbsp sea salt

Instructions:
Grease a tart tin (25cm) with butter and then dust flour inside, place the pastry inside and blind bake in the over on 170°c for 30-35 minutes.

Cook the tart without the blind bake for the last 5 minutes of cooking. When the pastry is cooked and starts to get a little brown take it out and leave to cool. In the meantime, make the caramel by melting the sugar and a splash of water in a saucepan on a medium heat until it is a light golden colour, then whisk in the butter and then the double cream.

Finish with the salt. pour the caramel into the cooked tart and place in the fridge to set for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 140°c.

When the caramel has almost set, start making the chocolate mix by melting the butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a bain marie (a bowl held above a saucepan of simmering water) stirring until it’s smooth.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until light and well creamed, followed by the golden syrup and double cream. Add the chocolate mixture and mix well.

Pour the mix into the tart on top of the set caramel and bake in the oven for 40 to 45 min.