Choco-Caramel Tart/Life’s Simple Pleasures

All our life, we’ve heard things like “Work hard for now. it’s gonna get a whole lot easier after this”, “Just this once… give it your all, you can enjoy later” and so on. Truth is, it never gets easier.

As a matter of fact life gets more demanding every passing day. You need to make choices along the way, which however right they might seem at the moment would make you kick yourself later, Or you would end up happy making them. Either way, Life just keeps you on your toes.

The best answer to life is to do the best you can and hang in there. You rarely get appreciation right away, But it does come to you sooner or later in ways you have never imagined. Just be the best possible version of yourself and take it from there.

I dedicate this post to thank everyone who’s played a part in my life. I wish you all peace and love. :)

This year impress all, at your Christmas table with this divine Chocolate Caramel Tart! Happy Holidays!!! Cheers!!! :)

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*adapted from Martha Stewart’s Chocolate caramel tart with my own adjustments and convenient substitutes.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Tart Dough:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 small egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/8 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Caramel Filling:

1/4 cup water
1 cups granulated sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup or pancake syrup
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream or 1/2 sachet whip cream powder
1 tablespoons creme fraiche (2 tablespoons if using whip cream powder)
a pinch of coarse salt

Chocolate Ganache Glaze:

1/4 cup heavy cream
50 gms extra-bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Method:

STEP 1

Make the tart dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Sift in flour and cocoa powder, and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and form it into a disk; wrap well. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

STEP 2

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, roll the tart dough 3/16 inch thick. Using a floured rolling pin gently roll the dough over a 7 inch tart pan, trimming away any excess dough. Chill the tart shell in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

STEP 3

Line the tart shell with a piece of parchment paper, and fill with raw rice or dried lentils. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and its contents, and bake until the pastry looks dry and set, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shells can be made up to 8 hours ahead.)

STEP 4

Make the filling: Place 1/4 cup water in a large saucepan. Add sugar and corn syrup, and cook mixture over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it becomes a dark-amber caramel, about 10 minutes. Carefully whisk in butter, cream/whip cream powder, creme fraiche, and a pinch of salt (the mixture will bubble up), whisking until smooth. (The caramel can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container.) Carefully transfer caramel to a glass measuring cup. Pour caramel in the tart shell while still warm (or reheat caramel over low heat until it is pourable), and let stand until the caramel is set, at least 45 minutes.

STEP 5

Make the ganache glaze: Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and let stand for 2 minutes, then stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the glaze over the tarts while still warm. Let the glaze set at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.

Peanut Butter Cups / Peppermint Patties

No, I haven’t gotten enough of chocolate; if that’s what you’re thinking! Like most of us girls , I daydream of it all day long! When I think of dessert, all I can think of is chocolate! That glistening chocolate fondant flowing down a scoop of chocolate ice-cream! That perfect bite of moist chocolate cake that makes your eyes roll in the back of your head! Those little chocolatey surprises you get with each bite from a perfect little chocolate chip cookie! *sigh* Anyways! Snap out of it! :P So, here’s another recipe for chocolate-freaks like me.

You’d like to think that there can never be anythin’ as good as chocolate! But there is! And that glorious food is peanut butter! Am I right or am i right??? :D And what’s better than the both of them??? Chocolate and peanut butter together!!! As soon as the idea hit my head, I thought of peanut-butter cups. and I had little blue silicon cups, I had bought spontaneously one day ‘coz they looked so cute and I just couldn’t abandon them in the lonely corner of the shelf at the store. At least that’s what I told my mum when she asked me why I bought them! Now all I had to do was to search for the perfect recipe. I started my search from this wonderful vegan blog I follow “BitterSweet” By Hannah Kaminsky, a fellow food-blogger. And I had to look no further ‘coz there they were!!! Peanut butter cups!!! I had to stop and drool over the pictures for a minute or two before I could start reading the recipe. :P Tried them out and needless to say they were perfect!!! You could even try the chocolate cups with peppermint filling (recipe by Hannah Kaminsky). Click here to go to the original recipe :)

I dedicate this recipe to my school friend “Shari” who shares my love for PB. NO, I’m wrong here. She doesn’t love PB, She is crazy for it!!! And that is the understatement of the year!  ;)
Try the recipe out and celebrate our obsession for chocolate and peanut-butter! ;) Cheerio!

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Chocolate Candy Cups

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter filling:
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar
Splash Vanilla Extract

Peppermint filling:
1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening
2/3 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar
1/2 – 3/4 Tsp Peppermint Extract (depending on desired intensity)
Splash Vanilla Extract

Method:

For both treats, begin by melting your chocolate in the microwave 30 – 60 seconds at a time, and stir thoroughly until completely smooth(I melted my chocolate on a double boiler). Use a spoon, thin spatula, or paint brush to brush the melted chocolate over the insides of paper mini muffin cups, making sure to leave no holes and spread it as evenly as possible. No need to go crazy though, because even if the walls are too thin and break when removed from the wrapper, I doubt anyone will mind after they take a bite! You will only use about 1/2 – 3/4 of the chocolate, so set the rest aside for later. Place the chocolate-covered papers into mini muffin tins so that they retain their shape, and let them cool and set completely. You can speed up this process by placing the tins in your refrigerator.

To make the peanut butter filling, just stir together the peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla until completely homogeneous and toss the mixture into the microwave for 30 – 45, just to warm it through and liquefy slightly. Give it another good stir to combine everything again, and drop dollops of the filling into your prepared chocolate cups. Be careful not to rub the sides too much so as not to melt the chocolate, and fill each up to about 2 – 3 mm from the top. Let the filling cool completely.

To make the peppermint filling, place the shortening into a bowl and microwave it briefly until just melted. Add in the sugar and both extracts and stir everything together until smooth. Drop the mixture into the cups as described above for the peanut butter cups, and let cool.

Finally, take out the remaining chocolate and melt it back down into a liquid state. Spoon the chocolate onto each of the filled cups and spread it out to the edges to fill in any gaps. Let it cool once again until set, and enjoy!