ALMOND CARAMEL AND CHOCOLATE TART

Ingredients :

Crust:

1 ½ flour (plus extra flour for rolling the dough)

5 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons iced water, approximately

Pinch of salt

5 ½ oz (160 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Almonds and Caramel:

1 ¼ cup blanched whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely

¾ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 ½ cup sugar for caramel

1/3 cup water for caramel

Chocolate:

3 ½ (100 g) semi sweet chocolate

½ cup heavy cream

1 ½ unsalted butter, cut in 3 pieces

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional: Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream to serve with the tart

Preparation:

Crust:
Place flour, sugar and salt in the processor and pulse to mix. Add butter gradually and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal with some pieces of butter. Add iced water and process until dough gets together in small balls (not one big ball). Transfer dough to a floured surface and form a 4 in (8 cm) round. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into circle to fit an 11 in (22 cm) removable bottom tart pan. Gently press dough into the bottom and up the sides of pan. Prick bottom and sides with a fork and chill for 20 minutes. Line dough with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in preheated oven to 350°F (180°C) for 20 minutes. Remove
weights and aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes more until crust is golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Almonds and Caramel:
Place the sugar and water for the caramel in a pan and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium heat without stirring. Have a pastry brush and a jar with water to wash sides of the pan occasionally to prevent crystallization. Cook until the mixture starts to color around the edges. Swirl pan to even out the color and prevent the sugar from burning. Continue cooking until sugar syrup has a golden color. Remove the pan from heat and gradually add heavy cream. Mixture with bubble at first. Add butter and swirl pan until completely melted.
Stir in vanilla, salt and almonds and mix until almonds are coated with caramel. Pour mixture over crust and spread with a spatula to cover bottom. Cool for approximately 30 minutes and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Chocolate:
Place chocolate with heavy cream in a small pan over low heat, stirring occasionally until chocolate melts. Add butter and vanilla and continue stirring until melted and mixture is soft. Pour chocolate over almond and caramel filling and tilt the pan so chocolate covers the caramel.
Refrigerate until the chocolate is set for 1 hour or more. Serve tart with Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream.

8 servings

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