Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Tart
By Emma
Certified Culinary Professional
•
Recipe tested & approved
A luscious tart merging deep, bittersweet chocolate ganache with a buttery caramel layer, all nestled in a crisp cocoa crust. Adjusted ingredient portions cut sugar slightly, swapped corn syrup for honey for richer notes, and used browned butter in crust for nuttier depth. Modified steps and timings emphasize tactile and visual cues over clocks, making it foolproof. Each component demands attention: caramel color shift, crust feel, ganache gloss. Stored chilled, it holds up five days. Salt sprinkles last-minute lift. Notes include must-know fixes for separating ganache, caramel crystallizing, and tart shell shrinkage. The tart balances bitter, sweet, salty – complex yet straightforward once you nail the textures and stages.
Prep:
40 min
Cook:
30 min
Total:
Servings:
8 servings
#French-inspired
#chocolate tart
#caramel dessert
#brown butter
#sea salt
Bitter chocolate, sticky-sweet salted caramel, crumbly cocoa crust. Not sweet saccharine. More balance needed. Learned: brown butter crust kills plain butter crust dullness. Honey over corn syrup = subtle floral notes but tricky caramel temp, attention crucial. Chilling times slightly longer, no rushing, layers need structure, no mixing layers or runny mess. Pour caramel warm, ganache cooler—layer separation shows precision. Salt flakes last step, kind of magic on bitterness. Caramel bubbles, smells to watch. Chocolate shines when cream and butter hit boiling, rest a breath. Ganache texture tells true doneness better than clock. Ice cream or coffee? Both, no shame.
Ingredients
Crust
- 105 g all-purpose flour (3/4 cup) sifted
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 ml salt (1/4 tsp)
- 75 g unsalted butter browned, cooled (5 tbsp)
- 38 g powdered sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 large egg yolk
Caramel
- 165 g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
- 45 ml water (3 tbsp)
- 40 ml honey (about 2 1/2 tbsp)
- 125 ml heavy cream 35%, warmed (1/2 cup)
- 45 g unsalted butter chilled, cubed (3 tbsp)
- 2.5 ml fleur de sel (1/2 tsp)
Ganache
- 110 g bittersweet chocolate 65–70%, finely chopped (4 oz)
- 100 ml heavy cream 35% (just under 1/2 cup)
- 35 g unsalted butter cold cut into pieces (2 1/2 tbsp)
- Fleur de sel for finishing
About the ingredients
Cut all sugar quantities by about 25–30% to avoid overpowering the bitterness of your 65–70% chocolate. Use honey instead of corn syrup—expect caramel to tighten faster, watch heat closely. Brown butter for crust adds nutty warmth missing in the original. Butter chill temperature: room temp or slightly cool is key; if too warm, dough becomes greasy and hard to handle. Cocoa powder should be unsweetened and sifted to avoid lumps. Fleur de sel over table salt brings texture contrast and cleaner salty pop. Use good quality chocolate, small chunks melt more evenly in ganache. Heavy cream warmed prevents shocking the chocolate, avoids seizing. Extra butter in ganache ensures sheen and softness; cold butter pieces help emulsify texture. Keep dough covered or refrigerated when idle; fat can go rancid or dry out. Don’t skip docking crust—puffed bottoms are death to flakiness.
Method
Crust
- 1. Brown butter in saucepan until nutty aroma floats and color deepens slightly, set aside to cool. Browning adds depth, use low heat or watch close to avoid burning.
- 2. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. Set aside. Dry mix should look uniform dark brown, no lumps.
- 3. Beat browned butter with powdered sugar until light and slightly fluffy; texture will be grainy, ignore, it's the butter solids.
- 4. Add egg yolk, beat until just incorporated. Add dry ingredients slowly at low speed. Dough starts sandy then clumps. Gather, press into ball but avoid overmixing crust to prevent toughness.
- 5. Press dough evenly into 23-cm (9-in) tart pan with removable bottom, piquing bottom with fork all over to stop bubbling. Chill 35 minutes minimum. Crust firms up, stops shrinking in oven.
- 6. Heat oven to 175°C (350°F), place rack center. Cover crust with foil and weigh down with dried beans or pie weights to prevent puffing.
- 7. Bake 20 minutes, remove weight and foil carefully, bake 3-4 more minutes until edges look set and dry but not overbrowned. Let cool a bit on rack; crust stiffens on cooling.
Caramel
- 8. In heavy-bottomed pan, stir sugar, water, and honey to just combine. From here, no stirring after mixture heats — swirl pan gently if spots crystalize.
- 9. Watch for color to shift from pale amber to golden to deeper amber — almost chestnut for deep caramel flavor but not bitter.
- 10. Remove from heat and slowly add warmed cream and butter cubes carefully to avoid splatter. Mixture will foam and hiss, wait that out.
- 11. Return to gentle heat, stir until a candy thermometer hits 110–114°C (230–237°F), or test by dropping a bit in cold water to get firm but pliable ball. Skip Thermometer? Look for glossy caramel thickening and silkiness, slows stirring movement.
- 12. Off heat, fold in fleur de sel evenly while warm.
- 13. Pour caramel into cooled crust, smooth with spatula. Chilling here helps caramel firm up for layers.
- 14. Refrigerate caramel-filled crust 50–60 min until set but not rock-hard.
Ganache
- 15. Place chopped chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. Set aside.
- 16. Heat cream and butter until just boiling—edges bubbling, surface shimmer.
- 17. Immediately pour over chocolate. Let rest 1 minute; do not stir immediately to allow heat to melt chocolate gently.
- 18. Stir gently with whisk or rubber spatula until silky and shiny. If ganache seems broken or grainy, warm over double boiler briefly, then whisk vigorously to smooth out. Butter aids gloss and texture.
- 19. Pour evenly over chilled caramel layer, tilt pan to spread if necessary. Early chill helps layers stay defined.
- 20. Return tart to fridge 55 min–1 hr until ganache is firm but yielding to touch.
- 21. Before serving, sprinkle with flaky fleur de sel generously. Visual contrast and punch to sweetness.
- 22. Store tart in airtight container in fridge. Bring out 10–15 minutes before slicing to soften ganache slightly; use hot knife dipped in warm water for clean cuts.
- Common issues: if crust shrinks, chill longer or dock more. Sticky caramel? Lower temp next time. Separated ganache? Heat gently and rewhisk—do not overheat. Honey instead of corn syrup gives richer aroma but caramel sets faster—watch temps carefully.
- Acidity from honey and fleur de sel cut bitterness of dark chocolate. A balancing act on the palate.
Cooking tips
Browning butter for crust changes everything; low flame, constant watch. Dough will seem crumbly, that’s expected. Avoid over kneading, or crust toughens. Chilling crust after pressing solidifies the butter helping it hold shape while baking. Docking crust holes prevent blow-ups during blind bake. Cover tart bottom with foil and weights tightly to keep shape. Don’t panic if edges don’t brown deeply; inner crust is key. Sugars in caramel must dissolve fully before no stirring phase; stirring causes crystallization, avoid. Watch for slow color change from pale amber to deep amber; if smell turns burnt, toss batch and restart. Adding cream+butter to caramel hot catches you with sizzling but calms quickly. Use immediate candy thermometer when possible, ball test second choice, texture matters. Ganache needs gentle heat; overheating melts fats differently causing separation; let rest before whisking for gloss. Do not rush layering—the caramel must be set firm enough to support ganache or they’ll blend. Fleur de sel sprinkling just before serving brings aroma and bite. Leftovers chill 5 days max under cake dome or airtight container. Bring tart out 15 min before slicing; ganache softening helps clean slices. Warm knife dipped in hot water and wiped between cuts makes life easier. Ganache can be remelted gently if mishandled but better to start slow. Practice patience, senses far more helpful than timers here.
Chef's notes
- 💡 Brown butter low heat until aroma floats and color shifts. Too dark? Bitter mess. Watch closely. Cool fully before mixing or fats separate.
- 💡 Caramel sugars dissolve fully before heat rise—no stirring once boiling begins unless swirling to avoid crystals. Color cues from pale amber to chestnut, smells sharp to sweet, key signal.
- 💡 Using honey instead of corn syrup speeds caramel setting, tighter texture. Expect shorter working window. Lower heat slightly, test often with cold water drop before adding cream.
- 💡 Chill crust thoroughly after docking and pressing. Prevents shrinkage and blow-ups in oven. Foil and weights needed for blind baking. Bake in steps; no rushing edges dry out but inside stays soft.
- 💡 Ganache pour timing is everything. Pour cream and butter just boiling over chocolate; rest 1 minute before stirring. Overheat ruins sheen, reheating needs gentle double boiler, whisk after heating for silkiness.
Common questions
Crust shrinks often?
Chill dough longer, dock more holes deep. Don't skip pressed weights foil. Warmer dough = more shrink. Pressure in oven pops bottom if not docked properly.
Can I swap honey back to corn syrup?
Yes, corn syrup stable longer cook times. Honey adds floral notes but caramel tightens faster. Adjust heat down when honey used. Watch clocks less, watch color more.
Ganache breaks what now?
Heat too high melts fats weird. Fix by warm double boiler stirring vigorously. Cold butter pieces help texture. Don't stir immediately after pouring hot cream.
How to store tart?
Airtight fridge best, 5 days max. Ganache softens out fridge so bring out 10–15 min before slicing. Hot knife dipped warm water cuts clean. Leftover tart does not freeze well.
