These Mini Salted Caramel Tartlets are the perfect sweet treat for a party, a special occasion or to make for the Holidays. They combine some Shortcrust Pastry Tartlet Shells with a homemade Salted Caramel sauce filling and flaky Sea Salt for topping.
150mlHeavy / Thickened Creamat room temperature or lukewarm
60grUnsalted Butterat room temperature
1teaspoonFlaky Sea Saltplus extra for topping, optional
1/2teaspoonVanilla Pasteoptional
Instructions
Tartlet Shells
Place the sifted Plain Flour, Icing Sugar and Salt in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to mix.
Add the very cold cubed Butter. Mix until you get very small crumbs of butter (see note 1).
Add the Egg and mix until a rough dough starts to come together (see note 2).
Bring the dough into a ball and place between two large sheets of baking paper. Lightly flatten it with your hands then use a rolling pin to roll to a thickness of about 3 to 4mm (1/6 to 1/8 inch). Place on a flat tray in the fridge to chill and rest for at least one hour, or overnight.
Take the dough out of the fridge and remove the baking paper. With a round cookie cutter, cut out disks of pastry that are a bit larger than the tartlet pans you are using (see note 3).
Line the tartlet pans with the pastry, gently sliding it down the sides of the pan. Press on the edge between the side and bottom to make sure the pastry is flush with the pan. Place in the fridge to chill again for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Excess dough can be re-rolled and chilled for at least 2 hours to make more tartlet crusts.
Preheat your oven on 160 degree Celsius / 325 degree Fahrenheit. Dock the bottom of the pastry (poke the pastry with a small fork). Cover each crust with a little bit of crunched baking paper then fill with baking weights, dried beans or rice.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and baking paper and bake for an additional 12 to 15 minutes, or until the bottom should be dry to the touch and the edges are lightly golden. Leave to cool down completely.
Salted Caramel
Place the Caster Sugar and Water in a medium to large size heavy-bottom saucepan. Quickly stir to evenly distribute the water then turn on low heat (see note 4).
Leave the sugar to slowly melt without touching it. It will start to boil and turn into large, clear bubbles. Continue to cook the sugar until its colour starts turning orange to light brown, almost amber - about 5 to 10 minute (see note 5).
Carefully pour in the room temperature or lukewarm Cream; it will start bubbling a lot and rise quickly in the saucepan so be very careful not to get burnt. Using a heat-proof spatula, vigorously stir until all the cream has been incorporated and you get a smooth and shiny sauce (see note 6).
Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool down for 5 minutes. Stir in the Butter a little bit at the time until fully melted and incorporated.
Mix in the Sea Salt and Vanilla Paste (optional).
Transfer the salted caramel filling into a clean jug (or a pastry bag) and pour it into the prepared tartlet crusts. Gently tap the tarts on a hard surface to pop any air bubble and help the salted caramel spread around.
Place in the fridge to chill for at least 1 to 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Sprinkle some Flaky Sea Salt on top to finish the salted caramel tartlets.
Video
Notes
You will get the best results by weighting your ingredients, so this recipe does not include measurements in cups and spoons.
The bigger the crumbs, the flakier the pastry will be. For this recipe, we do not want too much flakiness so make sure the crumbs are very small and the mixture almost looks like sand.
To know the pastry has been mixed enough, press together some of the crumbs in your hand. If they stick together, the pastry is ready. If the crumbs don't stick together or the pastry seems to be quite dry, add a few drops of very cold water and mix until you get the desired consistency.
I used Mini Tart Pans that are 7 cm (1/4 inch) wide and cut out the disks of pastry that are about 10 to 12 cm (3/8 to 1/2 inch) wide.
Don't go over a medium heat or the sugar might melt too quickly and burn.
Be careful with how much you cook the sugar, and use a candy thermometer if needed. The caramel will start to burn at around 180 degree Celsius (350 degree Fahrenheit) so you don't want to go any higher. Make sure to leave the sugar completely undisturbed while it is melting as any disturbance might cause the caramel to seize or crystallise.
Caramel will be very hot at this point and if the cream is too cold, it could start splashing around. Be very careful not to get burn (and I don't recommend making caramel with children around). A good tip is to heat up the cream separately first so that the sugar does not crystallise when it comes in contact with it.