Tuesday, September 29, 2009

TWD: Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart

I will fully admit, up front, that I was very cheater-like this week. I did make this dessert, I just used a short cut or two. In my defense, on Thursday, I baked 300 cookies for a friend's wedding (she gave me the dough balls, I baked them off) The wedding was Saturday, and Sunday was Yom Kippur. I baked for the break the fast dinner (two challahs and a pound cake-post coming soon). So this wasn't exactly high on my list of things to bake.

Here's how I cheated. Remember this recipe? I had some crusts in the freezer. That's one pre-made component.


The caramel layer? Some dulce de leche that I made last month. I sprinkled the crust with the honey roasted peanuts and poured some dulce on top. That's two layers taken care of.


The third layer was some chocolate glaze that I had in the fridge. I melted it slightly, spread it on, and then let it chill again.

Ta dah! A chocolate crunched caramel tart! I will admit that the caramel scared the bejeebus out of me, so I'm kind of glad I didn't make it. I may try it another time.
You know, my cheater version was pretty darn good! All the flavors of the original in a chocolate crust!
Go check out Carla's blog Chocolate Moosey. She has the recipe and pictures of the real thing.

14 comments:

Joy said...

A chocolate crust sounds great! Very creative subs, too!

April said...

Yum! It looks really good, especially the chocolate crust part. Can't wait to see you post about the challah! Hope you had an easy fast!

chocolatechic said...

I like your cheater version.

You should make it by the recipe next, the caramel is out of this world.

Megan said...

You were certainly busy enough to warrant a cheater version.

300 cookies? Even though your friend gave you the dough, that's a LOT of work. But very nice of you too.

Even though I'm late, I hope you had a nice holiday - and I can't wait to see what you baked!

betty geek said...

Cheat or no cheat, they still look good and probably tasted delicious! That is all that matters! ;)

Shandy said...

Creative! The caramel was actually really easy...as long as you have all the ingredients ready before starting. Love the little tart and hooray for extra, leftover ingredients...YUM!

Kayte said...

Oh, this looks very good...you made a chocolate crunchd caramel tart! The caramel is lots of fun, and not scary at all...and the taste is like nothing from a jar...you will be amazed, give it a try after all the holy days are over, etc.

Pamela said...

Look damn good to me! 300 cookies?? What a good friend you are. :o)

mike said...

Cheater, shmeeter - it looks (and tastes) I'm sure, great! Love the chocolate crust - a lot of people used that, I'm going to have to try that - nicely done!

Rachel said...

Lol - not cheating if you made all of the ingredients beforehand. You are just extra organized. =)
First time making the caramel and its not bad if you follow Dorie's instructions.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I was a cheater this week too. :) Glad yours turned out so well!

Julia said...

I think it was actually more like 350 cookies, Jules. You're a saint. Did you see/hear how happy everyone was about the cookies, though? I don't think many of them made it home that night.

AmyRuth said...

You just wrote yourself a new recipe. Yippee. Either way, don't be afraid of caramel. Just be patient, use a candy thermometer until you get the hang of the color you want. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to start over again. NBD. Oh and use a good pan. That helps with heat conduction for bigger batches. Cooking/burning sugar is fun. Just play around sometime. Good Luck and your tart looks delicious. Wow how many cookies did you bake off? Makes me dizzy thinking about it.
AmyRuth

TeaLady said...

Looks delicious. Love the chocolate crust. Great job, even if you did cheat a little.