#so that's cocoa powder and the pink is rhubarb syrup I made for this

[antiphon]

fucked around and made a layer cake out of harvey guillén's met gala outfit

[drylip0-blog]

chocolate caramel tart

Shortly after my husband and I began dating — the dark ages; no seriously, his phone at the time looked like this and I was like whoa, look how fancy you are, dude — we went on a road trip somewhere, stopped at a gas station, and I told him to grab something candy-ish, surprise me. This boy came back to the car with a pack of Rolos, and honestly, it’s amazing we didn’t break up right then and there because Rolos are terrible candy and it’s about time someone said it. [Oh I can hear the reverberations of a thousand unfollows but I will absolutely die on this hill, and remain undeterred.] They’re gooey so they give off the appearance, the suggestion, of being good candy but the goo tastes like nothing. I feel this way about all caramel that appears inside candy bars, which tastes me more like thickened corn syrup than anything toasty and nuanced. Plus, they’re inside a milk chocolate shell, so it’s sweet against sweet, no contrast whatsoever, and so help you if you don’t eat them in a single bite, I hope you enjoy having sticky hands for the rest of the drive. I know, I know what you’re thinking: it’s an absolute mystery how I ended up with such a picky child.

In my unsolicited opinion, three things could improve Rolos: a real toasty, buttery caramel, the contrast of dark chocolate, and a bit of salt. As good caramel is gooey, we’re not going to fight it, but that’s what plates and forks are for.

Claudia Fleming knows this. Owner and pastry chef at the North Fork Table & Inn on Long Island, she’s even more famous famous for her years as pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, where she led the way in redefining high-end desserts with American flavors. Her 2001 book, The Last Course, has been out of print so long, don’t even exhaust yourself trying to track it down, but in the new Genius Desserts* book from Food52, which includes some treats from Kristen Miglore long-running Genius Recipes column plus new worthy inclusions, it gets a revisit. In the notes, Miglore explains that when Fleming introduced the tart, which is finished with flaky sea salt, notable amounts of salt in desserts was still considered something new and unusual; she had to talk people into it. How times have delightfully changed (for phones too).

I do not imagine that Fleming was inspired by glove compartment Rolos, but this tart gets the idea of them so right, including a bittersweet chocolate ganache on tart, which reins in the sweetness of what is basically a fork-and-knife vehicle for very good caramel. The tart base is wonderful; it tastes like a good chocolate cookie. And the mess? At her restaurants, Fleming serves this as small single-serving tarts that hold everything in neatly. But I find that even made in a larger pan, you have about a minute after you slice the tart before the caramel escapes, more than enough time to get it to your plate where it is yours and yours alone to enjoy, as it should be.

* Not to toot my own horn too much, but there’s a Smitten Kitchen recipe in there too (Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats) and another one in the bonus packet of recipes they couldn’t fit in the book but wanted to (Gooey Cinnamon Squares, from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, a mashup of snickerdoodles and gooey butter cake).

Previously

One year ago: Dutch Apple Pie Two years ago: Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds + New Kitchen Favorites Three years ago: Date Breakfast Squares, Parsley Pecorino Biscuits and Potato Kugel Four years ago: Cranberry Pie with Thick Pecan Crumble and Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale Five years ago: Cigarettes Russes Cookies Six years ago: Cauliflower-Feta Fritters with Pomegranate and Cashew Butter Balls Seven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies Eight years ago: Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms Nine years ago: Cappucino Fudge Cheesecake and Balsamic-Braised Brussels with Pancetta Ten years ago: Cauliflower Gratin, Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust and Veselka’s Cabbage Soup and Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shorties Eleven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie, Chile-Garlic Egg Noodles Twelve years ago: Jacked-Up Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Watermelon and Cucumber Salad 1.5 Years Ago: Broccoli Rubble Farro Salad and The Red and The Black 2.5 Years Ago: Almond-Rhubarb Picnic Bars, Cucumber Yogurt Raita Salad and Chicken Gyro Salad 3.5 Years Ago: Swirled Berry Yogurt Popsicles, Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, and Pink Lemonade 4.5 Years Ago: Nancy’s Chopped Salad

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Servings: 8 to 12

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Source: Genius Desserts

Print

Three things:

I know caramel can be scary to make but I beg you to try it anyway because it’s just cooked sugar. That’s it. Repeat this to yourself as needed. You don’t need a thermometer. Fleming doesn’t give a temperature goal; she’s trying to keep it simple. Look for an amber/light copper color and that’s it, you’re there. Don’t look for what I did above; I overcooked it. I used it anyway; it’s faintly bitter but nobody minds.

Someone gave me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for Hanukah a few years ago, which led to me buying a bunch of things that nobody really needs but bring me great joy, such as a rectangular tart pan, so I used it here. It holds 75% of the volume of the recipe below, written for a standard (9.5/10-inch round) tart pan. If you have one and want to use it, just use 75% of every ingredient below and you’ll be set. Oh, and go ahead and use the whole egg yolk in the crust. It won’t cause problems.

Finally, this is not the recipe as Fleming wrote it; you can find her version in the book and throughout the web. I have a lazier way to make tart crusts that I prefer, and I’d be crazy not to tell you about it.

Crust

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (20 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel filling

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

1/2 cup (120 grams) heavy cream

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Ganache topping

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Fleming requests your “best quality”)

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Make chocolate crust in a food processor: Pulse sugar, flour, and cocoa powder until mixed. Add butter and run the machine until it’s finely chopped and basically disappears into the dry mixture. Add yolk and vanilla and run the machine — not just pulse it — until the mixture begins to clump. It make take 30 seconds, but it will begin to form clumps.

Make chocolate crust in a stand mixer: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa. It’s going to be bumpy at first but keep letting the machine bang it up until it is softened, and keep beating until smooth. Scrape down sides. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and mix until blended. With this method, if the mixture feels too soft to press into a crust, wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and refrigerate it until mostly firm.

Press crust into bottom and up sides of a 9.5- to 10-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom (for easier release). Keep a quarter-sized ball of crust aside to patch cracks later, if needed. Transfer pan to freezer and freeze until solid, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake crust: Prick frozen crust with a fork, coat a piece of foil with nonstick spray, and press it oiled-side-down tightly against the frozen crust, so it is fully molded to the shape. Bake tart with foil (no pie weights needed) for 15 minutes, then carefully, gently, a little at a time, peel back foil and discard. If cracks have form, this is when you patch them with reserved dough. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes more, until pastry looks dry and set. Let cool on a rack while you make the caramel.

Make caramel: In a large saucepan with a light-colored interior (this will make it easier to see the caramel’s color), combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup, then turn heat to medium-high. Cook undisturbed (no stirring needed, just tilt and swirl the pan if it looks uneven but really this shouldn’t be very necessary) until the sugar takes on an amber or pale copper color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the butter — it’s going to boil up and steam, be careful — until melted, then the cream and creme fraiche or sour cream and a couple pinches of salt, until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Let caramel set in the fridge until cool and firm, about an hour.

Make ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and bring cream to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour it over cooled caramel layer, spreading evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Let set in the fridge, another hour, or until firm to the touch.

To serve: Sprinkle the top of the tart with flaky sea salt. A knife dipped in hot water cuts fairly cleanly, but slices will become messy within a minute of being cut, so try to get them to their plates quickly.

To store leftovers: Fleming recommends doing so at room temperature, but I think it makes things too messy. Spray two small strips of foil with nonstick spray and press them against the cut/open sides of the tart and wrap them tight; this will keep it from spilling out in the fridge. Tart should keep in the fridge for a week, not that I believe it will.

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/12/chocolate-caramel-tart/

[ravencheck02-blog]

chocolate caramel tart

Shortly after my husband and I began dating — the dark ages; no seriously, his phone at the time looked like this and I was like whoa, look how fancy you are, dude — we went on a road trip somewhere, stopped at a gas station, and I told him to grab something candy-ish, surprise me. This boy came back to the car with a pack of Rolos, and honestly, it’s amazing we didn’t break up right then and there because Rolos are terrible candy and it’s about time someone said it. [Oh I can hear the reverberations of a thousand unfollows but I will absolutely die on this hill, and remain undeterred.] They’re gooey so they give off the appearance, the suggestion, of being good candy but the goo tastes like nothing. I feel this way about all caramel that appears inside candy bars, which tastes me more like thickened corn syrup than anything toasty and nuanced. Plus, they’re inside a milk chocolate shell, so it’s sweet against sweet, no contrast whatsoever, and so help you if you don’t eat them in a single bite, I hope you enjoy having sticky hands for the rest of the drive. I know, I know what you’re thinking: it’s an absolute mystery how I ended up with such a picky child.

In my unsolicited opinion, three things could improve Rolos: a real toasty, buttery caramel, the contrast of dark chocolate, and a bit of salt. As good caramel is gooey, we’re not going to fight it, but that’s what plates and forks are for.

Claudia Fleming knows this. Owner and pastry chef at the North Fork Table & Inn on Long Island, she’s even more famous famous for her years as pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, where she led the way in redefining high-end desserts with American flavors. Her 2001 book, The Last Course, has been out of print so long, don’t even exhaust yourself trying to track it down, but in the new Genius Desserts* book from Food52, which includes some treats from Kristen Miglore long-running Genius Recipes column plus new worthy inclusions, it gets a revisit. In the notes, Miglore explains that when Fleming introduced the tart, which is finished with flaky sea salt, notable amounts of salt in desserts was still considered something new and unusual; she had to talk people into it. How times have delightfully changed (for phones too).

I do not imagine that Fleming was inspired by glove compartment Rolos, but this tart gets the idea of them so right, including a bittersweet chocolate ganache on tart, which reins in the sweetness of what is basically a fork-and-knife vehicle for very good caramel. The tart base is wonderful; it tastes like a good chocolate cookie. And the mess? At her restaurants, Fleming serves this as small single-serving tarts that hold everything in neatly. But I find that even made in a larger pan, you have about a minute after you slice the tart before the caramel escapes, more than enough time to get it to your plate where it is yours and yours alone to enjoy, as it should be.

* Not to toot my own horn too much, but there’s a Smitten Kitchen recipe in there too (Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats) and another one in the bonus packet of recipes they couldn’t fit in the book but wanted to (Gooey Cinnamon Squares, from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, a mashup of snickerdoodles and gooey butter cake).

Previously

One year ago: Dutch Apple Pie Two years ago: Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds + New Kitchen Favorites Three years ago: Date Breakfast Squares, Parsley Pecorino Biscuits and Potato Kugel Four years ago: Cranberry Pie with Thick Pecan Crumble and Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale Five years ago: Cigarettes Russes Cookies Six years ago: Cauliflower-Feta Fritters with Pomegranate and Cashew Butter Balls Seven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies Eight years ago: Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms Nine years ago: Cappucino Fudge Cheesecake and Balsamic-Braised Brussels with Pancetta Ten years ago: Cauliflower Gratin, Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust and Veselka’s Cabbage Soup and Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shorties Eleven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie, Chile-Garlic Egg Noodles Twelve years ago: Jacked-Up Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Watermelon and Cucumber Salad 1.5 Years Ago: Broccoli Rubble Farro Salad and The Red and The Black 2.5 Years Ago: Almond-Rhubarb Picnic Bars, Cucumber Yogurt Raita Salad and Chicken Gyro Salad 3.5 Years Ago: Swirled Berry Yogurt Popsicles, Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, and Pink Lemonade 4.5 Years Ago: Nancy’s Chopped Salad

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Servings: 8 to 12

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Source: Genius Desserts

Print

Three things:

I know caramel can be scary to make but I beg you to try it anyway because it’s just cooked sugar. That’s it. Repeat this to yourself as needed. You don’t need a thermometer. Fleming doesn’t give a temperature goal; she’s trying to keep it simple. Look for an amber/light copper color and that’s it, you’re there. Don’t look for what I did above; I overcooked it. I used it anyway; it’s faintly bitter but nobody minds.

Someone gave me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for Hanukah a few years ago, which led to me buying a bunch of things that nobody really needs but bring me great joy, such as a rectangular tart pan, so I used it here. It holds 75% of the volume of the recipe below, written for a standard (9.5/10-inch round) tart pan. If you have one and want to use it, just use 75% of every ingredient below and you’ll be set. Oh, and go ahead and use the whole egg yolk in the crust. It won’t cause problems.

Finally, this is not the recipe as Fleming wrote it; you can find her version in the book and throughout the web. I have a lazier way to make tart crusts that I prefer, and I’d be crazy not to tell you about it.

Crust

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (20 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel filling

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

1/2 cup (120 grams) heavy cream

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Ganache topping

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Fleming requests your “best quality”)

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Make chocolate crust in a food processor: Pulse sugar, flour, and cocoa powder until mixed. Add butter and run the machine until it’s finely chopped and basically disappears into the dry mixture. Add yolk and vanilla and run the machine — not just pulse it — until the mixture begins to clump. It make take 30 seconds, but it will begin to form clumps.

Make chocolate crust in a stand mixer: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa. It’s going to be bumpy at first but keep letting the machine bang it up until it is softened, and keep beating until smooth. Scrape down sides. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and mix until blended. With this method, if the mixture feels too soft to press into a crust, wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and refrigerate it until mostly firm.

Press crust into bottom and up sides of a 9.5- to 10-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom (for easier release). Keep a quarter-sized ball of crust aside to patch cracks later, if needed. Transfer pan to freezer and freeze until solid, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake crust: Prick frozen crust with a fork, coat a piece of foil with nonstick spray, and press it oiled-side-down tightly against the frozen crust, so it is fully molded to the shape. Bake tart with foil (no pie weights needed) for 15 minutes, then carefully, gently, a little at a time, peel back foil and discard. If cracks have form, this is when you patch them with reserved dough. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes more, until pastry looks dry and set. Let cool on a rack while you make the caramel.

Make caramel: In a large saucepan with a light-colored interior (this will make it easier to see the caramel’s color), combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup, then turn heat to medium-high. Cook undisturbed (no stirring needed, just tilt and swirl the pan if it looks uneven but really this shouldn’t be very necessary) until the sugar takes on an amber or pale copper color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the butter — it’s going to boil up and steam, be careful — until melted, then the cream and creme fraiche or sour cream and a couple pinches of salt, until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Let caramel set in the fridge until cool and firm, about an hour.

Make ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and bring cream to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour it over cooled caramel layer, spreading evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Let set in the fridge, another hour, or until firm to the touch.

To serve: Sprinkle the top of the tart with flaky sea salt. A knife dipped in hot water cuts fairly cleanly, but slices will become messy within a minute of being cut, so try to get them to their plates quickly.

To store leftovers: Fleming recommends doing so at room temperature, but I think it makes things too messy. Spray two small strips of foil with nonstick spray and press them against the cut/open sides of the tart and wrap them tight; this will keep it from spilling out in the fridge. Tart should keep in the fridge for a week, not that I believe it will.

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/12/chocolate-caramel-tart/

[moonstew16-blog]

chocolate caramel tart

Shortly after my husband and I began dating — the dark ages; no seriously, his phone at the time looked like this and I was like whoa, look how fancy you are, dude — we went on a road trip somewhere, stopped at a gas station, and I told him to grab something candy-ish, surprise me. This boy came back to the car with a pack of Rolos, and honestly, it’s amazing we didn’t break up right then and there because Rolos are terrible candy and it’s about time someone said it. [Oh I can hear the reverberations of a thousand unfollows but I will absolutely die on this hill, and remain undeterred.] They’re gooey so they give off the appearance, the suggestion, of being good candy but the goo tastes like nothing. I feel this way about all caramel that appears inside candy bars, which tastes me more like thickened corn syrup than anything toasty and nuanced. Plus, they’re inside a milk chocolate shell, so it’s sweet against sweet, no contrast whatsoever, and so help you if you don’t eat them in a single bite, I hope you enjoy having sticky hands for the rest of the drive. I know, I know what you’re thinking: it’s an absolute mystery how I ended up with such a picky child.

In my unsolicited opinion, three things could improve Rolos: a real toasty, buttery caramel, the contrast of dark chocolate, and a bit of salt. As good caramel is gooey, we’re not going to fight it, but that’s what plates and forks are for.

Claudia Fleming knows this. Owner and pastry chef at the North Fork Table & Inn on Long Island, she’s even more famous famous for her years as pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, where she led the way in redefining high-end desserts with American flavors. Her 2001 book, The Last Course, has been out of print so long, don’t even exhaust yourself trying to track it down, but in the new Genius Desserts* book from Food52, which includes some treats from Kristen Miglore long-running Genius Recipes column plus new worthy inclusions, it gets a revisit. In the notes, Miglore explains that when Fleming introduced the tart, which is finished with flaky sea salt, notable amounts of salt in desserts was still considered something new and unusual; she had to talk people into it. How times have delightfully changed (for phones too).

I do not imagine that Fleming was inspired by glove compartment Rolos, but this tart gets the idea of them so right, including a bittersweet chocolate ganache on tart, which reins in the sweetness of what is basically a fork-and-knife vehicle for very good caramel. The tart base is wonderful; it tastes like a good chocolate cookie. And the mess? At her restaurants, Fleming serves this as small single-serving tarts that hold everything in neatly. But I find that even made in a larger pan, you have about a minute after you slice the tart before the caramel escapes, more than enough time to get it to your plate where it is yours and yours alone to enjoy, as it should be.

* Not to toot my own horn too much, but there’s a Smitten Kitchen recipe in there too (Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats) and another one in the bonus packet of recipes they couldn’t fit in the book but wanted to (Gooey Cinnamon Squares, from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, a mashup of snickerdoodles and gooey butter cake).

Previously

One year ago: Dutch Apple Pie Two years ago: Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds + New Kitchen Favorites Three years ago: Date Breakfast Squares, Parsley Pecorino Biscuits and Potato Kugel Four years ago: Cranberry Pie with Thick Pecan Crumble and Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale Five years ago: Cigarettes Russes Cookies Six years ago: Cauliflower-Feta Fritters with Pomegranate and Cashew Butter Balls Seven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies Eight years ago: Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms Nine years ago: Cappucino Fudge Cheesecake and Balsamic-Braised Brussels with Pancetta Ten years ago: Cauliflower Gratin, Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust and Veselka’s Cabbage Soup and Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shorties Eleven years ago: Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie, Chile-Garlic Egg Noodles Twelve years ago: Jacked-Up Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Watermelon and Cucumber Salad 1.5 Years Ago: Broccoli Rubble Farro Salad and The Red and The Black 2.5 Years Ago: Almond-Rhubarb Picnic Bars, Cucumber Yogurt Raita Salad and Chicken Gyro Salad 3.5 Years Ago: Swirled Berry Yogurt Popsicles, Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, and Pink Lemonade 4.5 Years Ago: Nancy’s Chopped Salad

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Servings: 8 to 12

Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Source: Genius Desserts

Print

Three things:

I know caramel can be scary to make but I beg you to try it anyway because it’s just cooked sugar. That’s it. Repeat this to yourself as needed. You don’t need a thermometer. Fleming doesn’t give a temperature goal; she’s trying to keep it simple. Look for an amber/light copper color and that’s it, you’re there. Don’t look for what I did above; I overcooked it. I used it anyway; it’s faintly bitter but nobody minds.

Someone gave me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for Hanukah a few years ago, which led to me buying a bunch of things that nobody really needs but bring me great joy, such as a rectangular tart pan, so I used it here. It holds 75% of the volume of the recipe below, written for a standard (9.5/10-inch round) tart pan. If you have one and want to use it, just use 75% of every ingredient below and you’ll be set. Oh, and go ahead and use the whole egg yolk in the crust. It won’t cause problems.

Finally, this is not the recipe as Fleming wrote it; you can find her version in the book and throughout the web. I have a lazier way to make tart crusts that I prefer, and I’d be crazy not to tell you about it.

Crust

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (20 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel filling

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

1/2 cup (120 grams) heavy cream

2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Ganache topping

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Fleming requests your “best quality”)

Pinch or two flaky sea salt

Make chocolate crust in a food processor: Pulse sugar, flour, and cocoa powder until mixed. Add butter and run the machine until it’s finely chopped and basically disappears into the dry mixture. Add yolk and vanilla and run the machine — not just pulse it — until the mixture begins to clump. It make take 30 seconds, but it will begin to form clumps.

Make chocolate crust in a stand mixer: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa. It’s going to be bumpy at first but keep letting the machine bang it up until it is softened, and keep beating until smooth. Scrape down sides. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and mix until blended. With this method, if the mixture feels too soft to press into a crust, wrap it in waxed or parchment paper and refrigerate it until mostly firm.

Press crust into bottom and up sides of a 9.5- to 10-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom (for easier release). Keep a quarter-sized ball of crust aside to patch cracks later, if needed. Transfer pan to freezer and freeze until solid, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake crust: Prick frozen crust with a fork, coat a piece of foil with nonstick spray, and press it oiled-side-down tightly against the frozen crust, so it is fully molded to the shape. Bake tart with foil (no pie weights needed) for 15 minutes, then carefully, gently, a little at a time, peel back foil and discard. If cracks have form, this is when you patch them with reserved dough. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes more, until pastry looks dry and set. Let cool on a rack while you make the caramel.

Make caramel: In a large saucepan with a light-colored interior (this will make it easier to see the caramel’s color), combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup, then turn heat to medium-high. Cook undisturbed (no stirring needed, just tilt and swirl the pan if it looks uneven but really this shouldn’t be very necessary) until the sugar takes on an amber or pale copper color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the butter — it’s going to boil up and steam, be careful — until melted, then the cream and creme fraiche or sour cream and a couple pinches of salt, until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Let caramel set in the fridge until cool and firm, about an hour.

Make ganache: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and bring cream to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let sit undisturbed for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour it over cooled caramel layer, spreading evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Let set in the fridge, another hour, or until firm to the touch.

To serve: Sprinkle the top of the tart with flaky sea salt. A knife dipped in hot water cuts fairly cleanly, but slices will become messy within a minute of being cut, so try to get them to their plates quickly.

To store leftovers: Fleming recommends doing so at room temperature, but I think it makes things too messy. Spray two small strips of foil with nonstick spray and press them against the cut/open sides of the tart and wrap them tight; this will keep it from spilling out in the fridge. Tart should keep in the fridge for a week, not that I believe it will.

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/12/chocolate-caramel-tart/

[therecipes-includingcake]

Rhubarb Crumble Granola (and what is a 'natural flavour'?)

Over the last few month I have been working behind the scenes to develop my Wholeplus flavour range, it is still in the works but I hope to unleash the exciting new products and creative philosophy very soon!

A huge part of my investigation process was in aligning optimal taste and texture with highest quality ingredients. When I launched Wholeplus I initially only had three flavours in the range- chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla as these were the only real food powders I could get and I was resistant to explore 'natural flavours' because I didn't understand them. It was very limiting.

So, what are 'natural flavourings'? 

Taken from the web: 'Natural flavourings are flavouring substances or flavouring preparations which are extracted from vegetable or animal materials and are not further chemically modified or changed.' 

So basically, natural flavours come from natural sources — the original ingredient is found in nature and then purified and extracted and added back into the food. This is the only way it is truly possible to have foods in certain flavours, and nearly all companies use them including most of the health brands I know.

This has become sensationalised in various articles online with headlines such as 'is beaver butt used to flavour your food?' (Yes indeed the anal secretions of beavers can be used in foodstuffs and is actually pretty wide spread in the perfume industry as a musky smell- who knew!)  BUT Don't worry this DOES NOT appear in my products!

My biggest takeaway from this process of investigation is to be fully aware, do you own research and ask questions of the manufacturer if you are unsure how ingredients are derived. 

My investigations brought me to Foodie Flavours and after doing some thorough research to understand what natural flavours really are, a face-to-face meeting with the company, and confirmation that all of their products are indeed vegan, gluten free, sugar-free and made in the UK, I was gifted some flavours to take home for my trials.  

As well as Wholeplus Toppers recipes, I decided to put the Foodie Flavours to good use and created a granola recipe in a couple of flavours combinations. Both were great, but I have a real thing for the sweet and sour tang of rhubarb which is amazing.

Of course you can use any other 'flavouring' types you like- any extracts of choice or vanilla bean, cinnamon ginger etc.

Granola is a perfect snack all on its own, but in a 'smoothie bowl' (top pic) that was almost like custard in its consistency it was a wonderful combo of smooth and crunchy.  This was simple to whip up with water, frozen banana and cashews blended up. Yoghurt gives a similar creamy contrast too.

I also love how the freeze dried beetroot gives a great nutritional boost and lovely pink hue to compliment the rhubarb.  Beetroot powder would also work well I imagine but I think beet juice would make the resulting granola too wet and soft.

You could add any chopped nuts or seeds you like, I used roughly half pumpkin seeds for some flecks of colour and the rest a combo of mixed chopped nuts.

Other flavours that would make great granolas...

Chocolate orange with cocoa and orange flavour (or zest)

Cinnamon ...because cinnamon with everything works ;-)

Bakewell tart- almond flavour with flakes almonds and some dried cherries (stir those in after!)

Banana Bread- I have tried this mashed with fresh banana and dried bananas chunks and it's great. These was my first granola recipe experiments that used pureed fruit.

Tropical Trip with a tropical flavour and then coconut curls and dried fruit chunks mixed through once cooked.

PB&J granola- this recipe made great chunky clusters!

What are your favourite flavour combos? 

Recipe: Rhubarb Crumble Granola

(with Foodie Flavours)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup oats

1 cup chopped nuts/seeds

a pinch of sea salt

3 tbs coconut oil- melted

1/4 cup mild syrup of choice (I used coconut syrup)

approx 8 drops Foodie Flavours rhubarb flavour* (they suggest 20 drops per kg of product)

1/4 cup freeze dried beetroot powder* (optional for colour)

*You could omit the beetroot and/or use an alternative flavour type of your choice. I also tried 'dulce du leche' flavour as seen below in the lighter variation. 

Method:

Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl until well coated.

Spoon onto a lined baking tray in a thin even layer and bake for approx 15-20 mins on a medium heat- roughly 160C until lightly golden and toasted. Allow to cool thoroughly before storing in an airtight container. I found the granola lost it crispness after a couple of days, but it still tasted good!