David Lebovitz's Chocolate-Caramel Tartlets

It's not dessert if isn't chocolate.  That's what some would say.  But add caramel and you have a sure winner.

image, David Lebovitz

These delectable treats were winners at my holiday party the other night.  Not a one was left for me to nibble as I did the cleanup.  

The tartlets are a three step process but so worth it.  There is the rich chocolate dough baked in mini-muffin pans as little tarts.  The "tarts" are then filled with caramel...more about the caramel later in the post.

image

The tartlets are then frosted with rich chocolate ganache and topped with a bit of sea salt. 

Chocolate, caramel and a touch of salt.  Heaven!!  A mouth-full of amazing "wonderfullness".

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate-Caramel Tartlets.  You'll see that David "gives you permission" to melt store-bought caramels for the tartlet filling.  He also shares a link for his caramel recipe.  I decided to give it a try since I had all the ingredients plus a candy thermometer on hand.  

color achieved by using Lyle's golden syrup rather than corn syrup

I read the directions first, not something I normally do, and then got to work.  Actually this was so easy by just following the step by step directions.  I saved some of the caramel and wrapped it up as candy.  The sea salt is the perfect foil for the sweet caramel.  The consistency of the caramels is melt in your mouth perfect.  

I made a second batch of the caramels to give as gifts.  People went wild for them.  If you need a special gift, look no further than your kitchen.  Cook up a batch of these Salted Butter Caramels with this recipe.