I am currently working away on a project that I am super excited about but it is taking up a lot of my time so I am currently going through my archive to find recipes to share with you guys, to tie you over until the project is finished. Whilst looking for recipes I remembered this tart that I never got around to sharing. It was initially included in a pitch for a big piece of work I wanted to do around chocolate that ended up never getting a green light and sadly I forgot about it. Sadly because seeing the pictures reminded me just how wonderful this dish is. So enjoy it, finally!
Sweet and salty isn’t unusual these days, it’s to be expected. We all now generally understand that just like savoury food sweet things need seasoning and with ingredients like chocolate and caramel sometimes a little salt can help to enhance and highlight flavour whilst balancing the sweetness. This simple tart takes this idea and dials it up to eleven. The crust uses a simple biscuit style base, think the type of base you’d make for a cheesecake. The difference though is egg white. I love the texture of biscuit bases but find them a little tricky when you want nice neat slices, they’re just two crumbly. The addition of an egg white helps to bind the mixture together and makes it a lot easier to work with. Peanut butter and chocolate are a classic combo and anyone who’s ever opened a pack of peanut butter cups will know, a dangerously addictive one at that. The ganache used in this tart is made with a mixture of dark and milk chocolates, milk for the creamy sweetness that goes wonderfully with peanut butter but dark chocolate from preventing the tart from being too sweet.
Serves 12
Peanut Pretzel Biscuit Base
50g salted peanuts
100g salted pretzels
75g digestive biscuits (or graham crackers)
100g unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 large egg white
Peanut Butter Caramel
225g caster sugar
180ml double cream
20g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter
Ganache Topping
140g dark chocolate, 65%-75% cocoa solids, finely chopped
140g milk chocolate, 40%-50% cocoa solids, finely chopped
20g unsalted butter
150ml double cream
For the biscuit base finely crush the peanuts, pretzels and digestives into a fine crumb then mix together with the butter, brown sugar and the egg white. Press into a loose bottomed 9 inch round tart tin, using your hands or a flat bottomed glass to compact into the base and up the sides of the pan. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C (160C fan) for about 10-12 minutes just until the biscuit base is set and starting to brown slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
To make the caramel filling place the sugar into a medium sized saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has melted and caramelised, turning the colour of an old rusty penny. Carefully pour in the cream, stirring gently until the caramel is smooth then add the butter and salt and mix until combined. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down for 10 minutes before stirring in the peanut butter. Pour the caramel into the cooled tart, spreading into an even layer. Refrigerate for an hour or so until the caramel is firm.
Meanwhile place the chocolates for the ganache into a heatproof bowl, set over a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is fully melted. Place the butter and cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate and set aside for a couple minutes before stirring to form the ganache. Set the bowl aside until the ganache has thickened into the consistency of whipped cream. Dollop the ganache onto the tart and spread out, almost to the edges. Set aside at room temperature for a couple hours to allow the ganache to fully set. When ready to serve sprinkle the ganache with a little flaked sea salt.
Best served on the day made but can be refrigerated for up to 4 days just allow to come to room temperature before serving.
