Chocolate coffee caramel tart on a plate

This chocolate coffee caramel tart packs a serious punch. The flavors are rich and bold and the textures are a fine balance of crunchy, chewy, and silky smooth. It’s the perfect special occasion dessert, a tuxedo of tarts.

Let’s break it down. This chocolate caramel tart has a buttery chocolate crust with a hint of cardamom, followed by a coffee-infused caramel, in which the bitter notes of the coffee cut through the sweetness of the caramel. And on top sits a smooth layer of silky chocolate ganache with more hints of coffee and cardamom to enhance the chocolate flavor. The chocolate canvas is bedazzled with flaky sea salt to balance out the sweetness and add a pop of visual appeal to the top of the tart. While this tart does have several components, the steps can easily be spread out over a couple of days, and the caramel and ganache layers come together quickly and with only a few ingredients.

While many salted caramel tart recipes use the wet caramel method, where sugar is first dissolved in water, I decided to use the dry method because you have no risk of accidentally crystallizing the sugar. I find this method to be less fussy, although it does require that you carefully watch the sugar. With this method, you simply pour the sugar into a large skillet and once it begins to melt along the edges, begin stirring, pushing the melted sugar towards the middle. Continue stirring occasionally and cooking over medium-low heat until all of the clumps of sugar are gone and the caramel turns a deep amber and begins to smoke a little bit. It’s best to go by sensory clues for caramel–you know it’s ready when it turns that deep amber color and at the same time the smell changes markedly to a more robust, nearly burnt smell. In that instant, it’s ready to take off the heat and add in the coffee-infused cream and butter.

A quick note on the inspiration for this dessert. The caramel layer for this dessert is closely based on the caramel filling in Claire Saffitz’s chocolate caramel tart, although as I mentioned, I used a dry caramel method. I find Claire’s recipes to be incredibly reliable and to get the final texture I was looking for, I used her ratio of caramel to butter and cream.

I hope you’ll give this classy showstopper a try!

Chocolate coffee caramel tart

Recipe by MoniqueCourse: Pies and tartsDifficulty: Baking session
Yields

1

8-inch tart
Prep time

90

minutes
Bake time

35

minutes

This tart has a buttery chocolate crust with a hint of cardamom, followed by a coffee-infused caramel, and a layer of silky chocolate ganache with a touch of coffee and cardamom. This is the tuxedo of tarts—-classy, formal, and decadent.

Ingredients

  • For the tart crust
  • 1 cup + 1 tbsp (133g) all-purpose flour

  • 3 Tbsp cocoa powder

  • 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (use freshly ground if you can)

  • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • 1 egg yolk

  • 2 Tbsp ice water

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

  • For the caramel
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

  • 1 1/4 tsp instant coffee powder

  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter

  • 1/3 cup heavy cream

  • generous 1/4 tsp salt

  • For the chocolate ganache
  • 5 oz 70% chocolate, chopped into small pieces

  • 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream

  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee

  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

  • pinch of salt

  • Flaky salt for garnish

Instructions

  • Prepare the tart crust
  • In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, ground cardamom, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the mixture until the butter pieces are no larger than the size of a pea.
  • Mix together the egg yolk, ice water, and vanilla and pour over the flour and butter mixture. Stir with a fork to distribute the liquid and then use your hands to start pressing the dough together until you’re able to form a ball. Flatten into a disk. Place on a piece of parchment and roll out to about 2″ in diameter larger than the base of your tart pan. Cover the top with plastic wrap and let refrigerate for at least one hour or up to overnight.
  • Once the dough has rested, remove it from the fridge and let it sit for about 5 minutes, just to become slightly more malleable. Gently flip the dough over onto the center of the tart pan and peel away the parchment. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan, ensuring that the dough tightly lines the pan, especially at the place where the bottom and the sides meet. Use excess dough hanging over the side to patch any spots as needed. Then roll a rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove all excess dough overhang. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate again for at least one hour or overnight.
  • When your dough is thoroughly chilled, preheat the oven to 375F. Make pricks all across the dough with a fork, line the bottom with foil or the leftover parchment paper and place a layer of baking weights on top (dried beans or rice work just fine). Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the center is no longer moist. Remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 5-7 minutes until there are no visible moist patches remaining. Let cool completely.
  • Make the caramel
  • To make the caramel, start by heating 1/3 cup of cream along with the instant coffee in a small saucepan on medium low heat. Heat, stirring occasionally until the coffee granules have completely dissolved. Then remove from the heat. Measure out 1/4 cup and set aside.
  • Add the sugar to a large saute pan. Place over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Once some of the sugar begins to melt, stir more frequently to dissolve the sugar granules and promote even browning. The mixture may still have a few little sugar clumps but just keep stirring patiently until the mixture turns a deep amber color and has just started to smoke. You’ll notice the smell change at this point too to a rich caramely, nearly burnt but not quite kind of smell. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in butter one tablespoon at a time to melt, being careful to keep a distance from the pan, as the butter may splatter at first. Then pour in the 1/4 cup of heavy cream and add the salt. Let cool for about 3-5 minutes and then pour into the tart shell. Chill until the caramel is set, at least one hour.
  • Make the ganache
  • Place the chocolate in a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream, instant coffee, and cardamom just until the cream comes to a light simmer and begins to steam. Pour into the bowl of chocolate and let sit for about 3-5 minutes. Then whisk to melt the remaining chocolate until you have a satiny, smooth mixture. Stir in the salt. If you have any chocolate clumps remaining, you can transfer to a saucepan and heat very gradually over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Pour over the caramel layer, even out with a spatula, and place in the fridge to set, at least 2 hours.
  • Prior to serving, sprinkle the top of the tart with flaky sea salt and place at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Then slice and enjoy. Leftovers can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge for several days.
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