Espresso caramel chocolate tart

Makes 1 x 25CM Tart Desserts and puddings

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Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C F/Gas 3.

For the espresso caramel, slightly warm the cream and espresso in a pan over a medium heat and set aside.

Put the sugar, milk, salt and butter in another pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Continue to cook, whisking to ensure it doesn’t burn, and reduce until the mixture becomes thick and caramelised. At this point, remove the caramel from the heat, add the cream and coffee mixture, then whisk to combine. Give it a quick blitz with a hand blender until shiny, then allow to cool. Once set, weigh the espresso caramel, mix with an equal weight of dulce de leche and store in a container.

For the espresso caramel glaze, mix the espresso and cream together in a measuring jug and set aside. Add 160g of the caster sugar and a splash of water to a pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Continue to cook until all the water has evaporated and the sugar begins to caramelise. Once the caramel is an even, medium golden brown, add the butter and salt and whisk together until emulsified.

Add the espresso-cream mixture to the caramel in three stages, ensuring the sugar doesn’t set and is completely dissolved before each addition.

Mix the remaining 30g caster sugar with the pectin. Once the espresso cream and caramel mixture has boiled, add the sugar and pectin to the pan, then return the mixture to a boil while whisking. Let it simmer for 20 seconds and blitz with a hand blender until smooth and glossy. Decant into a heatproof container and allow to set.

For the chocolate cake batter, put all the dry ingredients, except the sugar, in a bowl and stir them together.

Put the eggs and sugar in a separate mixing bowl. Using either a whisk or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, slowly combine until the sugar has dissolved. Keep the speed low to avoid incorporating air into the mixture at this stage.

Melt the brown butter in a pan – you want it warm enough that the liquid doesn’t cool down too quickly, but cool enough that it doesn’t develop any burnt characteristics. If the butter is too hot, it can also fry the egg mixture as you add it, so aim for approx. 100C on a cook’s thermometer.

Once the butter comes up to temperature, add it to the egg and sugar mixture, little by little, while whisking. (Or, if using a stand mixer, pour it in slowly.) Ensure that the mixture is well emulsified, or the cake may have a greasy texture. Finally, mix in the dry ingredients, making sure there are no lumps suspended throughout the batter.

Spread 200g of the espresso caramel over the base of the baked pastry case - click here, then pour 550g of the cake batter on top. Bake the tart in the oven for approx. 30 minutes or until the crust has an even colour and the centre of the cake layer is firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

Once completely cooled, glaze the tart. Gently warm 120g of the espresso caramel glaze in a pan until just melted. Pour this mixture over 120g of the remaining cold glaze and mix with a hand blender until smooth and the texture of thick custard.

Pour this over the baked cake and tilt the tart so that the glaze spreads to the edges (for a smooth and clean look here, avoid using a spatula). Tap the tart gently on a worksurface so that it settles in all the edges, then chill in the fridge for 5–10 minutes to firm up. Once the glaze is firm, remove the tart from the tin and slice into portions with a hot, sharp knife to serve.

COOK’S NOTE

To make brown butter, put the butter in a medium pan over a medium heat. Once it has completely melted, allow the butter to simmer gently until it begins to foam. Continue to cook, stirring with a whisk on occasion to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan.

Keep a careful eye on the butter: it will start to expand, small flecks of browned milk solids will appear and the ‘fizzing’ sound will stop. At this point, remove it from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Strain through a fine sieve into an airtight container, then store in the fridge until needed.