Salted Caramel Chocolate Crunch Tart
This tart is genuinely one of our proudest creations. We're talking a crisp, buttery pastry base loaded with gooey salted caramel, a rich chocolate layer, and that satisfying crunch on top. It's the kind of dessert that makes people go quiet at the table, which is honestly the best compliment you can get. We make this one for dinner parties, birthdays, lazy Sundays when we want to treat ourselves, basically any excuse we can find. Trust us, once you've made it you'll be looking for reasons to make it again.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 200°C
- Large baking tray lined with parchment paper
- Saucepan
- Mortar & pestle (or plastic bag + rolling pin)
- Spatula
- Pastry chilled in freezer for 10 minutes before baking
- Tart cooled to room temperature, then chilled in fridge for 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ready-rolled plant-based shortcrust pastry sheets
- 160g coconut cream
- 200g light brown sugar
- 200g hazelnuts
- 100g pecans
- 100g dark chocolate
Method
First, prepare the pastry
- Unroll the pastry on to the lined baking tray, making sure the edges of the pastry fold up the sides of the tray and pressing it into the corners
- Chill in the freezer for 10 minutes to stop the pastry from shrinking and the sides from collapsing
- Put the pastry in the hot oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown (it will bubble a bit but don’t worry, those bubbles will deflate
- Take the tray out of the oven
Meanwhile, make the salted caramel
- Meanwhile, put the saucepan on a medium heat
- Pour in the coconut cream and stir so that it becomes completely liquid
- Pour in the sugar and stir continuously for at least 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens and darkens in colour
- Sprinkle in the salt and stir it into the caramel
Then, prepare the nuts
- Put the hazelnuts and pecans into a mortar and break them up with the pestle (or put them in a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin)
- Tip the broken nuts into the pan and stir them in so that they’re well covered in the sticky caramel sauce
- Break the chocolate into the pan and stir until it has melted into the caramel and the nuts are completely covered
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and set aside
Assemble the tart and serve
- Pour the chocolate caramel into the pastry base and spread it out to the edges
- Smooth the top with a spatula or smooth knife
- Put the tart back in the oven for 3 minutes, then take it out and let it cool to room temperature in the tin
- Put the cooled tart in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool down and firm up
- Take the tart out of the fridge and carefully remove it from the tin
- Cut into slices and serve
Tips & Variations
- Freeze the pastry properly: We know it feels unnecessary but those 10 minutes in the freezer before baking make a real difference. Don't skip it or the sides will slide down and you'll have a sad flat tart.
- Get the caramel right: Stir constantly and don't walk away from it. Ian learned this the hard way after ruining a batch by getting distracted. Keep the heat medium and your eyes on the pan.
- Make it your own: Henry always adds a pinch of flaky sea salt right at the end on top of the chocolate layer. It looks great and takes the flavour to another level. Highly recommend.
Why This Works
The trick here is chilling the pastry in the freezer before baking. It sounds like a faff but it genuinely stops the sides collapsing and keeps everything nice and sharp. The other thing that makes this sing is the balance of salty and sweet in the caramel layer. Don't be shy with the salt, it's what stops the whole thing tasting cloying and keeps you going back for another slice.