If you come to my house for dinner and you ask the inevitable, 'what can I bring'— I will either say nothing (I like all my food to match) or I'll say dessert. I am definitely a pinch-hitter when it come to anything sweet— I know exactly what to do with a pile of cheese or green beans but a pile of pastry dough tends to make me break out in hives. Rachel Allen's Favorite Food At Home was a dessert game changer— now I'm a pinch hitter with a kick ass tart up my sleeve.
Hazelnut, Chocolate & Salted Caramel Tart(adapted from Rachel Allen's Favorite Food At Home)
Pastry Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
9 tbsp butter, diced and softened
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Hazelnut Salted Caramel
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup cream
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp spiced rum
5 ounces hazelnuts, roasted and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp Maldon sea salt
Chocolate Ganache
3/4 cup cream
7 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease or butter your tart pan. Place the flour, butter and powdered sugar in a food processor. Process for a few seconds, then add the beaten egg and continue processing. Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough just comes together. Flatten out the ball of dough into a thickness to about 1 1/4 inches, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Remove the pastry from fridge and place the pastry between two sheets of plastic. Using a rolling-pin, roll it out until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Removing the top layer of the plastic wrap. place the pastry upside-down (plastic facing up) in the greased or buttered tart pan. Press into the edges and using your thumbs, 'cut' the top of the pastry on the edge of the tart pan. Remove the plastic and place in freezer for 10 - 15 minutes.
Blind bake the pastry dough for about 15 minutes or until the pastry feels dry. Remove from oven and set aside.
Place the butter, cream, rum and brown sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 - 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove the heat and add the hazelnuts and allow to cool. Spread evenly over the cooked tart shell, sprinkle the salt over the caramel/hazelnut mixture and set aside.
Place the cream in a saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate immediately, stirring until the chocolate is thoroughly combined with the cream. Pour over the hazelnut caramel in the pastry shell.
Place the tart in the fridge until the chocolate ganche has set. If you are keeping it in the fridge, remove from the fridge a few hours before serving and let come back to room temperature.
