The idea for this triple chocolate tarte has been knocking around in my brain for a while. It came about because I’ve been wanting to try this brownie caramel from Milk Bar, and I have also been wanting to make something in a tarte pan. And ALSO I’ve just been craving plain ol’ chocolate recently. So it all came together into this. Triple the reasons to make a triple chocolate tarte!
I based this a bit off of the concept of millionaire shortbread: shortbread with a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate. Traditionally, it’s plain shortbread and plain caramel. But this is all chocolate. So maybe it’s more of a … billionaire’s shortbread?? TRILLIONAIRE’s shortbread?? The Fortune 500 of shortbreads??
It was important to do three different kinds of chocolate, so that the whole thing didn’t get too same-same. So I made the chocolate crust with black cocoa powder to make it very dark. And then the brownie caramel obviously tastes like brownie – a lighter, sweeter chocolate that has a little extra to it. And then the final layer of semi-sweet, pure chocolate shell. All chocolate, but all contrasting in texture and type of chocolate! With a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top to cut a bit of the sweetness.
This felt fancy enough that I wanted a sort of special occasion to make it, so I waited until the Oscar’s evening. It just felt like a very classy dessert… to eat while watching a fancy event from our couch and discussing movies like our opinions matter!
But going forward, now that I have this pan, I might want to start making more tartes. My mom and I were discussing possibilities – the crusts and fillings are easier than pies, and have just as much or more potential! The ideas just kept coming!
It’s not often that this happens, but making a tarte feels like a whole new area of baking has been unlocked, and I look forward to making more in the future!
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PinIngredients
For the Chocolate Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used black cocoa, but you can use whatever you have)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Brownie Caramel:
- 1 cup sugar (divided)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1½ cups boxed brownie mix
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Chocolate Shell:
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt to a small bowl and whisk together.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave), add the vanilla extract to the butter and stir, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until thoroughly moistened.
- Press the dough evenly along the bottom and sides into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until the crust looks dry and matte instead of glistening with butter, about 20 minutes. (It can be tricky to tell when dark chocolate doughs are baked enough without burning because the color doesn’t change much. The dough will go from glossy to matte and smell lovely and chocolatey when it’s baked enough. Check at 18 minutes and every minute until it looks done.)
- Let cool before filling.
Make the Brownies Caramel:
- Caramel requires all of your attention – so measure all the ingredients beforehand and keep them close by, you don’t want to be scrambling to measure something while the caramel burns!
- Make a dry caramel: In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, cook ¼ cup of the sugar over medium-high heat. As soon as the sugar starts to melt, use a heat-resistant spatula to move it constantly around the pan—you want it all to melt and caramelize evenly to a gorgeous amber color. Once the first amount of sugar has taken on color, add an additional ¼ cup sugar to the existing caramel in the pan, repeating the previous steps—cook and stir, cook and stir, until the mixture is once again a gorgeous amber color. Continue adding ¼ cup sugar twice more until all your sugar has become one pretty pan of caramel.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in the unsalted butter until melted.
- Next, carefully and slowly stream in the heavy cream, whisking all the while. The mixture will sputter and bubble and produce a ton of steam so watch your hands.
- Add chocolate chips and stir until melted.
- Finally, add in toasted brownie mix, cocoa powder, and salt and whisk until smooth.
- Transfer caramel to an airtight container and chill for at least an hour, or until thick and glossy.
- Pour into the cooled crust, and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
For the chocolate topping:
- Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil in 30 second increments in the microwave.
- Once melted and combined, pour over the still-cold caramel layer, and spread into an even layer.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and allow to cool completely.
- Best served cold!