Maple Bourbon Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart. Whew, I think I burned a few calories just saying that out loud! Good, you can put those calories towards your intake of this super delicious, decadent, rich fall fancy tart! Speaking of Fall and fancy, I created this delectable for our annual friends Fancy Fall Dinner! The tender crust (pate sablee) is made with a combo of duck fat and butter serves as the base for the bourbon maple cream, topped with chopped caramelized pecans, layered with salted caramel and finished off with a thick rich dark chocolate ganache! Yeah, that’s right, it’s as amazing as it sounds!
It’s that time of year again. Our Friends Annual Fancy Fall Dinner or FFD. We have been doing this each year for over 5 years now. It’s a fun tradition that we started to get everyone together before the craziness of the holidays ensue. We always rotate who hosts and the rest of us are assigned what else to bring as far as apps, sides, desserts (I do most of the assigning 🙂 ). Of course, we all bring wine, duh. I organize it every year (what else did you expect with the nickname of “The Coordinator”) send out dates and nail down one that works for everyone and get it on the calendar.
I hosted last year, so I asked my friend who just moved into a new house if she wanted to host. Yes, it’s out in the burbs, but we just turn it into a big slumber party! This year was an especially big sleepover. My sister just had a baby girl two months ago and I was bringing my fur baby Kea (she’s not really a baby, but my baby). Plus, we had to pack our other two friends into the car. So off we went with a caravan of a baby, a dog, a Stacey, a Jerusha, a Laura and a me! If that weren’t enough, we had to pack the car with all the baby stuff and the food stuff! It took some maneuvering, but we did finally manage to pack everything into the huge SUV!
This year’s menu consisted of the main course which you can get from Martha Stewart’s page. A scrumptious bone- in pork roast with apples and pears. There were appetizers, or shall I say hors d’oeuvres galore! Obvi we had a ginormous meat and cheese board (a must for any party), crackers, bread, olives and spread. I also made this great Fall butternut squash dip that is divine. I will be sharing it soon, I make a version of it for Thanksgiving too. Some yummy sides, roasted veggies and mashed potatoes and of course the piece di resistance…this tart!
Look at the crust! The pate sablee is a traditional French tart dough. It’s very tender and has a sandy texture.
This is what the maple syrup turns into after about 35 minutes of whipping. Yes, it takes that long, but it’s worth the wait.
Chop up some caramelized pecans to add texture on top of the maple cream layer.
My love…salted caramel…before it’s topped with the rich ganache.
Mmm, maple, caramel and chocolate oh my!
Everything was soooo yummy and very fancy and very fally. The best part though is getting together with my friends to enjoy all this bounty with a lot of laughs, love and the occasional tears (this year from the baby, …there has been a rule put into place, no crying, but we budged a bit for the babe! 🙂 ) and of course, a lot of wine (which may have contributed to the past tears)!
Until next year, Fancy Fall Dinner. I hope you will be starting your own FFD traditions, starting with this tart!
Happy Harvest!
Diane
- For the Pate Sablee (tart shell)
- 1¼ All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp. duck fat - room temp
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter - room temp
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 to 2 tbsp. cream or milk if dough is dry
- For the Maple Cream:
- 2 cups Grade B Maple Syrup
- 2 tbsp. Bourbon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅓ to ½ cup chopped caramelized pecans
- For the Salted Caramel:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- For the Ganache:
- 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bars chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Sea salt for sprinkling
- For the Pate Sablee:
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, duck fat and powdered sugar. Beat until fully combined and creamy. Add the egg yolk and beat until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Slowly beat in the flour and salt and mix until dough comes toghther don't overmix, but there shouldn't be any flour visible. If dough looks too dry, add 1 tbsp. at time of liquid.
- Dump dough onto plastic wrap, gently press together and flatten into a disk. Wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour or up to three days before rolling out.
- Roll out dough. If it has been in the fridge long, let it sit on the counter for about 15 to 20 minutes to be able to roll.
- Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment paper to about 11 inches in diameter. If there are any cracks, carefully press together.
- Remove top layer of parchment and carefully turn over from the bottom into your 9 inch tart pan. Press dough down and up the sides, fixing any cracks. When evenly pressed into tart shell trim the top of the dough off. Chill for a half hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.Line chilled dough in tart pan with parchment or tin-foil and fill with pie weights or baking beans. Place tart pan on baking sheet and place in the oven, bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove pie weights and foil and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on rack. Tart shell can be made the night before, cooled and stored wrapped in plastic wrap at room temp.
- For the Maple Cream:
- You do need a candy thermometer for this. Or if you have a meat thermometer that can be used for candy. Bottom line you have to know what temperature to take off the heat. They are not expensive and you will get a lot of use of it.
- In a medium heavy bottomed pot, pour in the maple syrup, Bourbon and vanilla extract over medium high heat. Have your thermometer attached and in the liquid. While the syrup is heating prepare an ice bath (I put the bowl of my stand mixer in the ice bath ready for the maple to go in) and set aside. Heat maple syrup to 235 (should take about 10 to 15 minutes, watch it) degrees and remove from stovetop and carefully pour into the bowl of the stand mixer in the ice bath to cool to 100 degrees.
- Once cooled to 100 degrees, attach bowl to the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium. This takes a while about 35 minutes. I gave my stand mixer a few little breaks in-between. Beat until the maple syrup has thickened and has lightened in color and resembles peanut butter. Then it's done. Place in a bowl and set aside. (can be made ahead and stored in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks)
- For the Salted Caramel:
- While your maple is creaming, make the salted caramel. In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat the sugar over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with wooden or heat proof spoon until all the sugar has dissolved and is a deep amber color. Carefully add the cream and continue to stir for another minute or two. Remove from heat and add butter, salt and vanilla extract. Pour into bowl to cool slightly and set aside. (Can also be made ahead a week or two and kept stored covered in the fridge)
- For the Ganache:
- Chop the chocolate and place in a medium heat-proof bowl and add vanilla extract over chocolate. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the cream until scaled, bubbles will start form around the edges. Don't boil. Pour over chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Whisk chocolate and cream starting from the center out until all the chocolate is melted, combined with the cream, smooth and shiny. Set aside and let cool to room temp for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Assemble the Tart:
- Spread the maple cream, with an off-set spatula or knife, about 1 and ½ cups as the bottom layer evenly to the edges of the tart. If you had the maple cream in the fridge you can warm it up in the microwave in 15 second intervals so it's spreadable. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the maple cream.
- Pour the salted caramel over the pecans and maple cream to cover completely and evenly to the edges. You can use the off-set spatula to make even. Sprinkle with more sea salt. Let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Pour the layer of ganache over the salted caramel and smooth evenly to completely cover caramel and goes to the sides of the tart. Sprinkle with more sea salt and garnish top with caramelized pecans.
- Store in air-tight container at room temp for a day or store in container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let tart come to room temperature before serving.
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