Salted caramel tart
Serves 12
This was one of the first items on the menu at Hannah Catley’s bakery, Lockdown Loaves, Bristol, and it remains a firm favourite.
You will need For the sweet pastry
200g caster sugar 300g butter 2 eggs, beaten 500g flour 4g salt
For the salted caramel
500g double cream 140g caster sugar 135g egg yolks 35g muscovado sugar
How to do it
1 To make the sweet pastry, beat the sugar and butter together. Slowly add the eggs to the mixture, then gradually add flour and salt. 2 Work everything together until the mixture forms a soft dough, then cover and chill your pastry in the fridge overnight. 3 Roll out the chilled pastry, line your tart tin with it, trimming off any overhang, then rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Blind bake the tart case at 180C/gas 4 for around 30 mins, checking now and then to make sure it’s on the right track. The pastry should be golden and firm when done. 4 I would recommend using a 28cm tart tin here, but you could easily adapt the recipe to fit different sized tins. To make the salted caramel, warm the double cream over a gentle heat. Meanwhile, melt your caster sugar in a separate pan and have the yolks and muscovado sugar mixed together in a separate bowl ready to use. 5 When the sugar in the pan has turned into a golden caramel, slowly add the warm cream while mixing gently. Be very careful not to burn yourself as it will bubble up and emit a lot of very hot steam. Once the cream and caramel are combined, gradually pour in the egg and sugar mixture while stirring continuously. Add salt to taste, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove lumps. 6 Pour filling into the pre-baked tart case and bake at 100C/gas ¼ until the centre of the tart is no longer liquid, but still has a slight wobble. Check after 30 mins and keep an eye on it – the total baking time could be up to an hour depending on your oven. When done, leave tart to cool before serving.
PREP TIME: 50 MINS, PLUS CHILLING COOK TIME: 1 HR 30 MINS SKILL LEVEL: MEDIUM CALS: 724 FAT: 48G SAT FAT: 28G CARBS: 64G