Now as I might have mentioned before, chocolate is pretty much a staple in this household. The Monkeys quite happily eat squares of 72% cocoa dark bitter chocolate, while I don’t think this is normal taste bud behaviour for little people. I don’t have a problem with it in small quantities, ( I would rather they had a square of that than a packet of smarties.) It’s good stuff! However they will not be trying espresso coffee and red wine any time soon, as with those taste buds they are sure to like it.
Now after my little kitchen crisis. After I had sat on the floor with a teatowel over my head, with thoughts of “this is the end of my cooking FOREVER!” I had a little pause, got back to basics, caught my breath and then made this little baby. It’s a little bit pastry, it’s a little bit caramel, it’s a little bit nutty and it certainly is quite a bit chocolatey.
…and did The Monkeys like it?
Of course they did…Mr Chocolate had to wrestle the last piece from their sticky little paws.
Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tart
pastry
150gms softened butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 2/3 cup plain flour
1 tps vanilla
2 tbs water
Add dry ingredients and butter. Either use processor or by hand until resembles bread crumbs. Add vanilla and water. Knead on lightly floured surface, until mixed well. Wrap dough and place in freezer for ten minutes. Roll out to desired shape, (I did individual tarts) and bake blind in greased tart tins. 180C until lightly golden. Allow to cool.
caramel
1 cup condensed milk
1 knob of butter
2 tbs muscavado sugar (or other dark unrefined sugar)
Pop them in a pot and stir over medium heat, until it turns to caramel. Don’t let it get to thick as it will be harder to manage. Add layer of caramel to cooled tart dish.(Option- you could add toasted pecans within the caramel.)
ganache
150mls cream
150gms dark chocolate
Bring the cream to a boil and then turn off heat. Drop broken chocolate into the cream and stir until melted through. While ganache is still runny, pour over caramel tart. Place in fridge and allow to set.
toppping
toasted roughly chopped pecans
*** I obviously used pecans here, but I do think they would taste just as well with any other nuts you may have on hand. Hazelnuts were my first choice, but as the only ones I could find were from Europe and I had pecans grown locally…it had to be pecans.
cityhippyfarmgirl 
She’s baaack… 🙂
Nice looking tart! And sophisticated monkeys – don’t discourage it! 🙂
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No I don’t discourage it…actually secretly pleased 🙂
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Oh, you horrible teasing tart you! That is just plain mean… go on, just give us a little taste down the http://www... thanks!
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Dixie am I missing a link?
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No, I always write www (as in w w w) and your comment thingy made it into an almost link!
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Oh. My. God. That looks SOOOOOO good!
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Thanks Bee.
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This tart looks wonderful…only wish pecans were readily available here…so creamy looking…nice going! Yvette x
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Yvette you could this with a lot of other nuts you might have on hand. Maybe even the roasted chestnuts you’ve been doing lately??
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*smacks lips* Looks sooooo good!! Sooo, soooo good! These wouldn’t last long at all in our house! 🙂
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Nope. They didn’t last long at all.
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You are a very gracious mommy- I would NOT share those with anyone under the age of 18 and then only if they agreed to wash the dishes afterward.
I MIGHT share them with my husband, but then again…
I better not make them. We’ve been together 35 years now and I’d hate to divorce over chocolate rights. 😉
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Go on, I dare you to make them 🙂
Looking forward to the day when The Monkeys are tall enough to do dishes, and not just lick bowls clean.
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Brydie, what have you done to me. I’m hanging out for a really good cuppa coffee & thinking of wandering up to the shops for a leisurely Sunday coffee & now you know what I absolutely must have now with it don’t you. Bet they are not anywhere as nice as these caramel, chokky pecan yummies though, they look great.
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Thanks Anna. I hope you found something to substitute. You can’t let a good coffee run solo.
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These look fantastic!!
Chocolate is a staple in our house, too, and I have a big bag of pecans just begging to be treated this well!
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Thanks Amanda. Ahhh the wonders of the trusty pecan. So many things you can do with them!
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How fantastic to have such sophisticated palates! 😀 These look darling-they have great taste! 😉
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I would be fighting over that too! It looks so good, and far too early in the day for me to be ogling at that much sweetness!
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Ooh tart! How did I miss this one! I love choccolate caramel it’s one of my favourites, pecans are a luxury nut here, much more expensive than hazelnuts and therefore quite special – I want to pluck that one right off the screen 🙂
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Joanna I would happily send you one if I didn’t think it would arrive as a melted mess and smashed beyond repair, along with being confiscated at quarantine…but I would if I could 🙂
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So, hey I was wondering… When I come over to Australia in the future, can I come and eat at your place?
Thank you in advance.
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