With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we had the easiest time planning our next kitchen adventures. When you think about this holiday of love, you also think of chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. So naturally, we picked a rich chocolaty dessert to celebrate Saint Valentine’s special day. This recipe will please just about anyone with a sweet tooth: the boyfriend, the best friend, the crush, the roommate, and even the guys downstairs. We know because we tried it on all of those people, and received rave reviews.
This recipe came from sweetapolita.com, an awesome cooking blog that Taylor loves to browse. Our guess is you’ll love browsing it too! This recipe requires a bit of time, so make sure you have something (a frozen pizza, in our case) to keep you busy in between steps. Here you go:
Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart
What you’ve gotta have:
For the crust
- 1.5 cups flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
For the caramel
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 6 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 7 tablespoons heavy cream
For the ganache
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
What you’ve gotta do:
For the crust
Start by preheating your oven to 350F. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt, then in a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
The recipe recommends using a hand mixer, but we were able to get the job done with a spoon! Mix the egg yolks and vanilla into the butter mixture, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Knead the dough together, and then press the dough directly into a 9’ pie or tart dish. Refrigerate it for a half hour, prick the tart with a fork (this prevents it from cracking while it’s baking), and put it in the oven for about fifteen minutes. Remove it when it’s cooked all the way through, then set it aside to cool.
For the caramel
This part was definitely our favorite. Whisk the sugar, corn syrup, salt and water into a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring it to a boil. Without mixing it, let it cook until it’s a gorgeous ambery color (YOU’LL KNOW) and then remove it from heat. Whisk in the butter and cream, and it’ll begin to look like a rich, caramelly dream. Pour it into the tart shell, and refrigerate the base of the tart until firm.
For the ganache
Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour it into a bowl with the bittersweet chocolate (chop it up first!) and mix it with a spatula until it’s smooth. Remove the base of the tart from the fridge and pour the ganache on top. Put it back in the fridge to set for an hour or two. Take it out, sprinkle sea salt on top, and you’re ready to go!
Reviews from the peanut gallery:
Amaan: “It made my heart feel like a smile. My heart literally felt like a smile.”
Allison: “It changed my life.”
In the spirit of celebrations and sweets, we decided to make Strawberry Champagne Slushes. This one was easy: we just combined frozen strawberries, ice, and champagne in a food processor and blended it up. To serve, we filled up a champagne flute, sprinkled some sugar, and topped it off with a splash of champagne. They were absolutely delectable, and the presentation wasn’t too shabby either. In true Duke fashion, our champagne of choice was André!
The treats were a hit, what a great Valentine’s celebration!!
Happy Valentine’s Day, kids!
Ashley & Taylor