Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Chocolate Tarts

Smooth peanut caramel in crisp, dark chocolate pastry shells topped with rich dark chocolate – these tarts are surprisingly easy to make and decadently delicious!

PASTRY

½ cup icing sugar ¼ cup cocoa 1¾ cups plain flour 1 large egg yolk

CARAMEL FILLING

2 x 395-gram tins caramel sweetened condensed milk or dulce de leche

½ cup good-quality natural crunchy peanut butter

½ teaspoon sea salt

TOPPING

180ml cream

200 grams dark chocolate, chopped roughly

EQUIPMENT: Grease 8 x 10cm tart tins with removable bases.

PASTRY: Blend butter, icing sugar, cocoa and flour in a food processor until the mixture forms large crumbs. Add the yolk and pulse until it comes together in a ball. Tip onto a lightly floured bench and form a fat log. Wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

Remove the chilled pastry and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, then slice into 8 even discs. Put 4 discs in the fridge, so they don’t get too soft while you work. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each of the discs to a diameter slightly bigger than the 10cm tins. It can help to simply flour the bench in an area as big as you want to roll your pastry.

Use a fish slice to gently lift the pastry off the bench and drape into the first tin. Lightly press into place up the sides of the tin and into the base. Patch up any tears, then prick the base with a fork and repeat with the remaining discs. Freeze for half an hour.

FILLING: Beat the condensed milk, peanut butter and salt together until combined. Store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to use. This can be made up to a day before.

Preheat the oven to 180°C regular bake.

Cut out 8 circles of baking paper a little larger than the tart tins. Put the paper in the pastry shells and fill with baking beans or rice so they come at least partway up the sides of the pastry.

This helps give the pastry shells their shape. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and then bake a further 4-5 minutes.

Remove the caramel peanut filling from the fridge and beat again briefly with a wooden spoon. Divide the filling between the tart bases and smooth with the back of a spoon to even out. Bake for 5 minutes, until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

TOPPING: Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just simmering. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and leave to sit for 3 minutes, then whisk to combine. If necessary, return to the heat briefly, then whisk again until smooth. Leave the chocolate mixture to cool for 15 minutes.

TO ASSEMBLE: Carefully remove the tarts from the tins. Place on a baking tray and pour the chocolate ganache over the cooled caramel filling. Chill for at least 2 hours, but remove from the fridge half an hour before serving. MAKES 8