If you have an affinity for the delectable combination of salted caramel and chocolate, this Salted Caramel Tart is a dream come true! The luscious caramel filling is crafted using condensed milk, a clever trick that yields perfectly soft-set caramel without the need for a candy thermometer. With a crumbly biscuit crust and a luxurious chocolate ganache topping, it’s almost unbelievable that you can whip up this dessert with just six ingredients!
A friend of mine couldn’t contain her excitement as she exclaimed, “OMG, that caramel tart! You’ve probably given my entire family diabetes, but OMG!!!!”
I couldn’t help but grin with delight. “I know, it’s absolutely incredible, isn’t it?”
This dessert is arguably one of the most indulgent treats in my repertoire. It’s sinfully decadent. The caramel filling is truly a marvel – it’s velvety, creamy, luxuriously thick, and irresistibly soft.
To create it, I start with a caramel base of butter and sugar (for that caramel flavor), which is then blended with condensed milk. Once baked, it sets to perfection, resembling a soft custard. This method differs from the traditional approach to making caramel fillings, which typically involve bringing the caramel to a specific temperature for it to set as a soft, creamy caramel, rather than being runny or hard. In other words, no candy thermometer is needed.
I have a hunch that this might be the Australian way of achieving a creamy caramel. I’d love to hear if anyone has a different perspective. It feels like an undiscovered secret because I rarely come across caramel tarts, pies, bars, or slices made with condensed milk. This tart boasts a simple biscuit crust that serves as the perfect vehicle for savoring every crumb, thanks to the caramel’s adhesive properties.
When pressing the crumbs into the tart tin, I use a flat, round object with straight edges – in this case, a measuring cup. It helps press the crumbs against the walls and ensures a level top and base for the tart.
Now, onto the topping – what could be more fitting than a luscious chocolate ganache? This ganache, however, has a slightly different chocolate-to-cream ratio compared to traditional recipes (which are usually 1:1). This adjustment gives the chocolate a delightful softness while still allowing for clean, precise slices of tart without smudging.
Some of you may have noticed that my distinctive hands have been absent from recent videos. Shooting videos solo can be a real challenge when you’re working with a simple home setup like mine. I’ve contemplated the idea of setting up a proper studio – a dedicated video shooting area with studio lights, a kitchen, and a permanent support team – to make my life a lot easier.
But what I cherish about my blog is its personal touch. Everything you see is crafted in my modest kitchen, with recipes developed, tested, and taste-tested by me, my family, and friends. The larger the team, the less personal the website becomes. Does anyone genuinely believe that Martha Stewart creates every single recipe featured on her website, in her magazines, cookbooks, and TV shows?
I derive satisfaction from producing my own videos, handling the shooting and editing. To alleviate some of the workload, I occasionally have my mother or a helper come in once a week to assist with food preparation, conduct multiple rounds of recipe testing, and, most importantly in my world, tackle the mountain of dishes.
And since everyone else seems to have more appealing hands than me, I can’t resist enlisting their help as hand models in my videos. Plus, it’s incredibly convenient not to have to constantly wipe my hands and rush to check the camera after every minuscule step in the video. For a recipe like this one, if I were to film it solo, I’d have to do that at least 40 times – minimum.
To be candid, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by tarts at the moment. I’m struggling to muster up enthusiasm for what is perhaps the most enthusiastically praised dessert ever by my taste testers – and that includes the homeless man I met at the dog park.
But in the span of a week and a half, I’ve made this tart a whopping seven times!! That includes multiple rounds of testing and a couple of video mishaps.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m officially “tarted out”!
My friends, on the other hand, are not. I certainly didn’t run out of eager taste testers, and they willingly devoured even the tarts that didn’t meet my exacting standards.
