Dinner Party: Part II (Chocolate Tart with Salted Caramel Sauce)

Now, I need to teach you a couple things.
1) My name is Lelan, and I am a dessert-aholic.  Do not stand in the way of me and my dessert.  Chips, cheese, pasta, you can have it--just leave me with dessert.  Everyone has (at least) one vice, and mine is dessert.  Sometimes you need to celebrate a special occasion.  Sometimes you need a reward after a stressful day at work.  And then there are those times when you've done nothing all day--you haven't answered one email, you haven't even gotten out of your pajamas, and the only reason you've gone outside was to take out the overflowing trash--even on those days, you deserve a dessert.  No matter what the circumstances, I can find an excuse for dessert.  If you're ever having trouble, contact me.
2) You need to know (if you don't already) the phrase "slap your mama good."  I learned it about a year-and-a-half ago from a co-worker.  She has the most off-the-wall sayings, and most of them I still don't get.  I use this one sparingly, but there are times when anything else you say does not do justice.  Use this when something is so mouth-watering-ly delicious that, were your mother in the room beside you, it would make you want to, well, slap her.

My friend made this tart at a party a few years ago when we were in college; the tart had been devoured by the time I arrived--and I wasn't even that late.  Since then, this recipe has been on my "To bake" list.  This Christmas at my parents' house, I finally had time to make it.  The original recipe called for a chocolate crust, chocolate filling, and chocolate ganache.  I like chocolate, but I am not the death-by-chocolate type, so I decided to tone the chocolate down a bit.

We gave this to family friends for Christmas, and the next day, we came home to a message from the Sandy; she was still drooling about how good it was and even went on to describe it, "The fudge-y chocolate with the homemade caramel, and then you get a crunch of salt...mmm."  I bet had she known the phrase slap your mama good, she would have used it.

After that voice mail, Mom and I set off to make one of our own.  And boy is it ever, SYMG.



First you want to make the homemade caramel sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 T butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a thick bottomed pan (a thin pan will brown too quickly), add the sugar.  It will take a few minutes for the crystals to being to melt, so be patient.  You will notice the sugar clumping together; this is a good sign, just keep stirring.  Eventually, the majority of the sugar will melt and start to brown.  Continue to stir so that the remaining crystals melt.




As soon as the sugar starts to boil, remove from the heat and add the butter.  Stir vigorously.

Once the butter has completely melted, add the cream.  Stir vigorously (yes, this can count as your workout for the day) until it is 100% incorporated.  Set aside to cool.  It should still be liquid when it comes time to top the tart; if not, put it in a microwaveable dish/bowl (not a plastic container) and microwave it for 20 seconds or so.  I don't even like caramel--I know, freak of nature--but I will eat this all day long.

Butter joins the fun.

Here's the cream.

For the pie crust use you family recipe or mine:
1 cup flour
4 T chilled butter
1/2 t salt
chilled water

Preheat the oven to 400.  Using a food processor, combine the flour, butter, and salt until it resembles coarse sand.  Add ice-cold water while the processor is running.  Add just enough to bring the dough together; it is roughly six tablespoons.  If you find yourself getting happy with the water, just add flour one tablespoon at a time.

Roll the dough out so that it will fit in a 10" tart pan.  That (the area above) is the extent of our counter space, and it's twice as much as I had a couple of years ago in my college apartment.  I'm living large now! 

Anyway, fit the dough to your pan (my pan was on loan, so I had to use a 9" cake pan).  Remove excess dough.  Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes using pie weights or cover with parchment and fill in with dried beans to keep the crust from bubbling up due to steam.  **I'm new to the whole blogging thing and forgot to take pictures of the pie steps, but you've all made a pie crust before...right?

While the crust is baking, work on the filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 Kahlua or brewed coffee
4 eggs
sea salt to top

Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.  Bring butter, sugar, and coffee to a boil.  Pour over chocolate and wait a few minutes.

                                                                    

Stir the filling, and add eggs one at a  time.  If doing this by hand, make sure you beat the eggs in very well.  Pour the filling in the crust, and bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until the center is slightly puffed and looks about set.  

Once the pie comes out, the caramel gets to don the top of the fudge-y goodness.  You may have extra caramel, so save that for the next time you have ice cream sundaes or to dress the plates.  After the caramel has cooled a bit, sprinkle with a couple pinches of sea salt.  Now, cut yourself a piece, and don't feel the least bit guilty--remember, you deserve this.

It will keep in the refrigerator for a week, but I promise it won't last that long.