These decadent treats do require some work but, like most great loves, your efforts will be rewarded.
I woke early this morning with the tip of my nose frozen, my toes cold and my torso locked under an arm and thigh of my husband in “the big spoon” position. It must be autumn. Not to say we don’t love a good snuggle in the summer months but come mid-July my 6’4″ broad-shouldered hunk-a hunk-a burnin’ man becomes a human furnace – snuggling not so comfortable. In the fall the air is crisp and clean and just begging couples (new and old) to press that snooze button for just 5 more minutes of under-the-cover-time together.
Fall is a season for lovers, apparently I’m not the only one to think so either. According to this internet gadget here, July and August have the highest baby birth rates in North America. Me thinks that these cool air spooning sessions 9 months earlier could certainly play a part in that statistic. Snuggles and chocolate because, let’s face it, chocolate is the official food of lovers.
Ok. Ok. There is no proven aphrodisiac effect to eating chocolate but chocolate is downright sexy. A decadent crunchy chocolate crust is sexy. A layer of hardened dark chocolate melting on your tongue is sexy. A silky-smooth, rich, sticky homemade dulce le leche sandwiched between the two… I don’t want to get myself too excited writing this, but I am tempted to write a book and call it ‘50 Shades of Chocolate‘.
Like most great loves (and lovers), these tarts do take some effort. Invest the time and you will be rewarded for it. Rich, sweet, crunchy, with just the right amount of ooey-gooey-ness, these are the perfect treat to prepare and share with someone you care about this season (possibly while under the covers).
Some subjects are just impossible to take a bad picture of.
Salted Chocolate Toffee Tarts
Courtesy the great Donna Hay
Makes about 15 tarts, if using a standard muffin tin.
Time: Start to finish about 6 hours Active: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup cocoa, sifted
- 1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup butter, chopped
- 3 large farm-fresh egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon iced water
- 1 cup homemade toffee (also known as dulce de leche) (See Below.)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped for melting
- sea salt flakes, for sprinkling
- Place the flour, cocoa, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- While the motor is running, add the egg yolks and vanilla and process to combine. Add the iced water and process until the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently bring together. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Spray your tart tins or muffin pan with a non-stick spray.
- Roll the pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to 1/4″ thick. Using a circular pastry cutter, cut rounds from the pastry and use to line your tart tins. Note: I don’t own tart tins so I used my muffin pan instead. Cut your pastry rounds based on the size of your tins/pan.
- Trim the edges and prick the edges with a fork. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350º f (180º c). Line pastry cases with non-stick baking paper (or muffin liners) and fill with pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and weights, and bake for a further 10 minutes or until cooked through. Be careful! Use your oven mitts and a spoon to scoop out the pie weights into a bowl. Don’t burn yourself! See, I care.
- Allow to cool completely in tins. Remove pastry cases carefully from the tins. Divide the dulce de leche between the pastry cases and use a butter knife to spread evenly. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- You can use a double broiler to melt your chocolate, personally I prefer the microwave in 25 second sessions when dealing with small(er) amounts of chocolate. Chop the chocolate into small chunks, place in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 25 seconds, stir, microwave on high for 25 seconds, stir until silky smooth and glossy. Spread tarts with the chocolate, sprinkle some sea salt flakes on and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Serve chilled and don’t forget to share the love.
Sexy and you know it.
Toffee in a can. Brilliant.
One of my greatest discoveries of the past few years has been this: easily preparing toffee (or dolce de leche) from a can of sweetened condensed milk. I first attempted this technique for my Banoffi Pie last summer and have been adding the toffee sauce to anything I’m keen to impress with since. It’s as simple as boiling an unopened can and as sophisticated as a French bistro. Très bon.
I use my pressure cooker to prepare but understand that not everyone owns or feels comfortable using so I’m including that route as well as the stovetop approach, courtesy WikiHow.com.
By Way of the Magical Pressure Cooker:
- Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. It is no longer needed! If you leave it on, you’ll get a papery mess in the water.
- Put a liter of water in the pressure cooker with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Don’t punch any holes in the can.
- Bring the cooker to boil and wait for between 40 and 50 minutes after it begins to steam. Shorter time = lighter/softer doce. Longer time = darker/firmer doce.
- Turn off the heat and wait until it cools down completely. While the cooker is pressurized by the steam, its pressure will counter balance the pressure build up inside the can, and prevent it from exploding. Let everything cool down before opening the pressure cooker. If you attempt to open a hot, or even warm can, an extremely hot jet of doce may explode out and result in severe burns. Wait until it is cool; then it will be perfectly safe to open the can and enjoy this great dessert. I recommend leaving on the counter untouched over night.
Slow and Steady on the Stove Top:
- Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. It is no longer needed! If you leave it on, you’ll get a papery mess in the water.
- Pierce two holes in the can with a can opener. Put the holes on opposite sides. Do not skip this step. Without these holes, the can may bulge and there is the danger of it exploding.
- Place the can in a small pot and fill it with enough water to come up to one inch (2.5cm) from the top of the can. You will need to add more water during the cooking process to make sure water doesn’t go below this level as it evaporates. Don’t let the water come higher than 1/2 inch (1.25cm) from the top of can, though, as you don’t want any getting on the top of the can and going into the holes you pierced.Note: To prevent the can from rattling in the water (which can be annoying when you consider that it’ll need to be in there for several hours) put a rag under the can.
- Place the pot on your stove and turn it on to medium-high heat.
- Watch the water closely until you see the water come to a simmer.
- Lower the heat to hold the water at a simmer. Some of the condensed milk might escape through the holes. If this happens, scoop it off with a spoon. Try not to let any spill over into the water.
- Wait. How long you wait depends on the type of dulce de leche you want. A soft dulce de leche takes about three hours. A firm dulce de leche will take up to four hours.
- Remove the can with tongs or an oven mitt and place on a rack to cool. Be careful when emptying the contents, as you can get burned.
- Open the can carefully with a can opener and pour into a bowl. The top will be more fluid, and there will be thicker, darker chunks at the bottom which will need to be scraped out. When everything is in the bowl, whisk together to make it homogeneous.
Fear nothing. Slow and steady, you only have to conquer it once and you’ll be ready to rock a mean toffee sauce a million more times following.
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Awwwww……all that snuggy wuggy is so sweet…I agree with U. Summer months and snuggling, not so comfy 😀
LOVE that lovers tart. Delish!!!