Caramel For Three Nut Torte Recipes

DOBOS TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Butter two 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheets. Line bottoms with parchment paper; butter parchment, and sprinkle with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
• In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together sugar, eggs, and salt until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.
• Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat egg mixture on high speed until very thick and pale, 6 to 8 minutes. Gently transfer mixture to a large shallow bowl.
• Sift in two-thirds of the flour in two batches, folding gently after each addition. In a small bowl, combine melted butter and extracts, and add to egg mixture in a steady stream as you sift in the remaining flour; fold gently, and divide batter between prepared baking sheets, smoothing tops with an offset spatula.
• Bake until cakes are springy to the touch and lightly golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before inverting cakes onto rack, and remove parchment paper. Cut each cake into three 5 1/4-by-11 1/4-inch rectangles (you will use only five; reserve the remaining piece for another use).
• Lay one rectangle on a flat work surface. Using a pastry brush, soak with a little less than 1/4 cup simple syrup. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 cup buttercream evenly over the top. Place another rectangle on top, and continue until you have five cake layers soaked with syrup and topped with buttercream. Spread remaining buttercream over sides of cake, and smooth the top and sides to form a neat block.
• Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes. When ready to serve, sprinkle chopped caramel over the top.

THREE-NUT TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper; butter parchment, and sprinkle with flour, tapping out excess.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. In a separate bowl, toss together nuts, chocolate, zest, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle over yolk mixture; do not mix in.
• Whisk egg whites in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water until whites are warm to the touch. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff and glossy peaks form.
• Fold egg-white mixture into egg-yolk mixture, one-third at a time. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, and spread with an offset spatula to smooth the tops. Bake until springy to the touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of each cake to loosen, and invert cakes onto wire racks, removing parchment paper. Let cool completely.
• Place one cake layer on a turntable or flat work surface. Spread 1 1/4 cups buttercream evenly over the top. Place second cake layer on buttercream; evenly spread 1 1/4 cups buttercream over the top. Place final cake layer on top; evenly spread remaining 1/2 cup buttercream on top. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes while you make the ganache.
• Transfer cake to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour ganache over top of cake; use an offset spatula to smooth top and sides. Place cake in the refrigerator, and let ganache set, at least 30 minutes, before serving.

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Between 2 sheets of wax paper roll out dough into a 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to a baking sheet and chill 10 minutes. Lift top sheet of wax paper from dough and gently replace on top (this will facilitate removal of paper later). Flip dough over, discarding wax paper now on top, and carefully invert dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Lightly press dough up side of rim, using pieces from overhang to patch any holes. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Line shell with foil, folding over edge to cover pastry entirely, and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell on a baking sheet in middle of oven 35 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. If bottom of crust still has patches of translucent undercooked dough, return shell to oven without foil and weights or rice and bake until pastry is completely cooked and golden, 3 to 5 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Reduce temperature to 350°F.
• Coarsely chop nuts. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and honey, stirring, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in nuts and cream. Simmer mixture 1 minute and pour into shell. Bake tart on baking sheet in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until filling is a few shades darker. Cool tart in pan on rack.
• Chop chocolate and in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool chocolate slightly and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip (slightly smaller than 1/8 inch). (Alternatively, transfer chocolate to a small heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Squeeze chocolate into one corner of bag and with scissors cut a tiny slice off corner to form a small hole.) Pipe thin lines of chocolate over tart in a back and forth motion to form stripes. Tart may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.
• Serve caramel tart chilled or at room temperature with ice cream and tuiles.

CARAMEL-NUT TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Have ready two 9-inch tart pans with removable bottoms. Cut out two 12-inch parchment circles, and set aside. Lightly flour a clean work surface. Roll out one disk of pate sucree to a 12-inch circle with a 1/4-inch thickness. Roll dough onto rolling pin, and unroll over one of the tart pans. Press pastry into place, being careful not to stretch dough; use a paring knife to trim any overhanging dough. Repeat with remaining disk pate sucree and tart pan. Chill both pans for 30 minutes.
• Line pastry with parchment circles, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until pastry begins to take on color, about 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights; continue baking or until light golden brown all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap in plastic; set aside until ready to use.
• Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Place butter, both sugars, honey, and heavy cream in a large saucepan set over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes. Stir in nuts and vanilla; remove pan from heat. Pour filling into reserved tart shells.
• Bake tarts on the center rack until the filling bubbles, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer tarts to a wire rack to cool.