11.13.20
Last week felt endless. I did everything I could to stay busy and just stop watching the news. I went for walks, did crosswords, Zoomed with friends, exercised and, of course, baked a LOT. Tis the season for delicious apple and pumpkin and ginger flavors, but sometimes you really just need some chocolate to get you through. I took the concept of classic millionaire shortbreads, sometimes referred to as caramel slice, and made precious little tartlets out of them. A crumbly crust with a rich caramel layer topped off with thick chocolate ganache, and some flaky salt. They are basically a Twix candy bar in tart form. If you’re needing to seek a little indulgence to help you laugh through the tears, I implore you to make a batch of these.
A few tips. If you want a softer ganache, change the chocolate to cream ratio from 2:1 to 1:1. If you don’t have small ring molds, or any small tart pans, just roll out this crust to fit a standard 9″ tart pan. It’s a very forgiving crust, and easily patches up it if breaks while you roll. And don’t forget the salt! This dessert is absolutely enhanced by the compliments of a salty aspect. If you don’t have, or don’t want to pay for (I get it, it’s pricey), Maldon flaky sea salt, simply sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top right before you serve.
Millionaire Shortbread Tartlets
Ingredients
- Pâte Sablée Crust (recipe follows)
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 TBSP salted butter
- 1 TBSP light corn syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- flaky salt for garnish
Pâte Sablée Crust
- 8 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- milk (if needed)
Instructions
- Allow crust (instructions follow) to sit on counter for 10-15 minutes to soften and become more pliable
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough until about 1/4″ thick
- Use ring mold to cut out bottom of tarts (you should make 8 3 1/2″ tarts out of this)
- After cutting out bottoms, place ring molds on lined baking sheet and place each dough circle in the ring mold. If you don’t have 8 molds, like me, place remaining bottoms in the fridge to stay firm while others bake
- Reroll remaining dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/4″ thick and cut strips of dough about 1″ wide
- Place dough strips inside ring mold, I recommend doing strips that span half the circle, and then patch the other half. The dough is very forgiving, and as the dough warms up, strips cut too long are prone to breaking (my kitchen is always warm so if your dough is firm enough by all means go for one long strip)
- Place remaining dough, if you don’t have enough molds, in fridge until read to use
- Gently press the dough from the bottom to blend into the strips of the tartlet crusts
- Freeze for 30 min-1 hour
- Preheat to 375° and place foil and pie weights in each crust
- Bake for 25-30 minutes
- Remove foil and weights, bake for another 5-10 minutes, crust should ultimately be golden brown all around
- Allow to cool completely before filling and removing mold
- Add sweetened condensed milk, sugar, butter and corn syrup to medium saucepan
- Heat over medium heat and whisk constantly for about 15-20 minutes so caramel doesn’t burn
- Once reduced to about half, has thickened and reached a ribbon stage remove from heat, add in vanilla and whisk until combined
- To make pouring easier, transfer caramel to measuring cup with a spout
- Fill crusts 2/3 with caramel
- Chill for 1 hour
- Place chocolate chips in medium bowl
- Heat heavy cream over low heat until edges start to bubble and wisps of steam begin to come off cream
- Pour cream over chocolate chips and let stand for 1-2 minutes
- Stir with rubber spatula until combined into thick chocolate ganache
- Pour over caramel to the top edge of the crust
- Chill in fridge at least 30 minutes, up to over night
- Garnish with flaky salt
Pâte Sablée
- In the bowl of a stand up mixer, beat softened butter and confectioners sugar until combined and fluffy
- Add in egg yolk and allow to combine
- Add in flour and salt and allow to just combine
- Depending on weather, if crust is too dry and won’t come together, add a splash of milk (or heavy cream) to bring crust together. At the time of making these, I didn’t need any liquid
- Dump onto plastic wrap, pat down into a disc and wrap tightly, chilling overnight
P.S
The proportions in these pictures are a little off than this recipe. I wanted a thicker layer of caramel and the first go round I was reserved with caramel pouring. However, this recipe, produces plenty of caramel to fill the crusts 2/3 of the way. If you prefer more chocolate to caramel, only go about 1/3-1/2 way with the caramel and fill the rest with chocolate.
