Lavender Crème Caramel Tart Recipes

LAVENDER CRèME-CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cook 1 cup sugar in a dry large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, swirling and shaking pan (to help sugar melt evenly), until sugar is melted and caramel is deep golden. Immediately pour caramel into pie plate, tilting to coat bottom and sides evenly.
• Bring cream, milk, lavender, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to a simmer and remove from heat. Let stand 15 minutes, then reheat. Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding lavender. Whisk whole eggs and yolks together in a bowl and slowly whisk in hot cream mixture. Pour custard over caramel.
• Bake custard in a water bath in middle of oven until set but still trembling slightly (custard will continue to set as it cools), 40 to 45 minutes. Remove pie plate from water and cool cr me caramel on a rack. Chill, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at least 2 hours.
• Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons ice water over mixture and toss with a fork until incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful: When it has proper texture, it should hold together without crumbling apart. If necessary, add remaining ‚ tablespoon water.
• (If you overwork mixture or add too much water, pastry will be tough.) Turn mixture out onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. Smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together and form it into a disk.
• Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 10 1/2-inch round and slide onto a baking sheet. Trim dough to a 9‚-inch round (use 9 1/2-inch plate turned upside down as a guide). Prick round all over with a fork and chill 30 minutes. Bake round in middle of oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes, and cool completely on baking sheet on a rack.
• Run a thin knife around edge of crème caramel and rotate pie plate back and forth to make sure crème caramel is loosened. Slide crust on top of crème caramel, centering it carefully, and invert serving plate on top of crust. Invert tart onto serving plate (caramel will run to edge of plate).

DARK CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like sand. Add the egg yolk and 4 teaspoons cold water; pulse until the dough comes together and forms a ball, adding up to 2 more teaspoons water if necessary. Press the dough into a 9-inch fluted tart pan in an even layer. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the crust looks dry, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake 5 more minutes. Transfer the crust to a rack to cool completely.
• Make the filling: Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; cover and bring to a boil. Cook, covered, until the sugar is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until the caramel is a dark amber color, 3 to 5 more minutes.
• Remove the caramel from the heat and add the heavy cream; whisk until the caramel stops bubbling. Stir in the vanilla and fine salt. Let cool to room temperature.
• Combine the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Let melt completely, about 10 minutes, then stir to combine. Remove the bowl from the pan and let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Whisk the egg yolks and whole egg in a large bowl until frothy, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the caramel, then the melted chocolate mixture. Set the tart pan on a large rimmed baking sheet; pour the filling into the crust.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake until the tart is set around the edges but the center is still jiggly, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until fully set, at least 3 hours. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.

STRAWBERRY CRèME CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 225° F.
• Spread strawberries on a baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes to dry slightly. Transfer baking sheet to a rack to cool strawberries.
• Increase temperature to 350° F.
• In a dry heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork (to help sugar melt evenly), until melted and pale golden. Cook caramel, without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Immediately pour caramel into a 9-inch glass pie plate, tilting plate to coat bottom and sides evenly. Put pie plate in a baking pan.
• In a saucepan heat cream just to a boil and remove pan from heat. In a bowl whisk together egg, yolks, vanilla, and a pinch salt until combined well and in a stream add warm cream, whisking. Skim off any froth and carefully pour custard into pie plate. Arrange strawberries decoratively on their sides in custard (custard should completely cover strawberries) and add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up side of plate. Bake crème caramel in middle of oven about 40 minutes, or until custard is just set but still trembles slightly (custard will continue to set as it cools). Remove plate from pan and cool custard completely on a rack. Chill crème caramel, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
• In a large bowl with fingertips or a pastry blender blend together flour, brown sugar, salt, and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and toss mixture with a fork until incorporated. Add some or all of remaining ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork to incorporate until mixture just begins to form a dough. On a work surface with heel of hand smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions to help distribute butter. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a 10-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and transfer to a baking sheet. Using a 9-inch plate as a guide, trim dough to a 9-inch round. Prick round all over with a fork and chill 30 minutes. Bake round in middle of oven until golden, about 30 minutes, and cool completely on baking sheet on a rack. Crust may be made 1 day ahead and kept, loosely covered with foil, at room temperature.
• Have ready a flat serving plate at least 10 inches in diameter with a slight lip. Run a thin knife around edge of crème caramel and rotate pie plate back and forth to make sure crème caramel is loosened. Slide crust on top of crème caramel and invert serving plate on top of crust. Invert tart onto serving plate (caramel will run to edges of plate) and garnish with strawberries.

RASPBERRY CRèME FRAîCHE TART WITH LAVENDER HONEY

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Pulse together all crust ingredients in a food processor just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put tart pan on a baking sheet and press dough evenly onto bottom and up side of tart pan with your fingertips. Chill shell, covered, on baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line shell with a buttered sheet of heavy-duty foil (buttered side down) and fill shell one third of the way up with pie weights.
• Bake (on sheet) until edge is pale golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and foil, then bake until edge and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack.
• Make filling:
• Beat cream cheese in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until smooth, then add crème frache and 1 1/2 tablespoons honey and beat until combined well. Spread filling evenly in shell, then top with raspberries. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons honey in a very small saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until liquefied, then drizzle over raspberries. Serve with additional melted honey on the side.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL TART

Steps:

• Prepare chocolate dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Beat until smooth. Add egg yolk and vanilla, and beat until blended.
• Sift flour into dough mixture. Beat on low speed until combined. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch tart pan. (You can use a 9-inch pan, but the crust will be thicker and the caramel may take longer to set in step 4.)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart with foil, and fill with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights, and bake until pastry is dry and set, another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Prepare caramel filling: In a large saucepan, bring sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil. Stir or swirl the pan occasionally, until mixture is a medium amber color, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Caramel will continue to cook and darken off of the heat. Carefully but quickly whisk in the butter, cream, creme fraiche and salt until smooth (mixture will bubble up). Pour hot caramel into tart, and allow to cool and set, at least 1 hour.
• Prepare chocolate glaze: Place chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and whisk until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Pour glaze over tart, tilting tart for even coverage. Refrigerate until tart is set, at least one hour, then sprinkle with a few granules of fleur de sel. Keep refrigerated until serving.