Velvety sweet caramel and chocolate ganache are beautifully offset with crunchy sea salt in a delicious light but chewy crust. Don’t let it intimidate you it, just takes a bit of chilling between each layer! 

It’s hard to believe that we have less than two weeks left here in our home in Georgia. This house has seen so much in these last three years we have lived here it will be bittersweet to move back home to the northwest.

As I sit in our backyard looking around at all the improvements we’ve made…and all the unfinished projects that we will be leaving it fills my heart with joy and sadness simultaneously.

In this home, I have carried and birthed our babies, laughed, cried, fought and made up. This yard has seen bonfires and garden parties, garden work days and brew days. We’ve grown gardens and animals in this yard, sunbathed babies jaundice away and swung slowly in hammocks.

We’ve fought ants and ticks and chiggers and cockroaches. We’ve seen baby ducks and baby rabbits and even our own baby born on this land. Plucked berries and figs and pears, and swooped low to harvest bags upon bags of pecans from the ground.

We sweated and poured and labored together and yes fought many a night as we tried to make this house a home. And we learned.

We learned about stewardship towards something that we couldn’t even call our own. We learned grace and perseverance, patience and long-suffering.

We learned that some things….like installing a whole new ceiling in the middle of a southern summer, are best left to the professionals. And those other things like installing a dishwasher and a washing machine in a house that hasn’t ever had one, is the best thing anyone could ever learn to do.

As the perfect paint jobs have been banged and bashed by our never-ending explorer of a toddler we have learned that life isn’t perfect and that touching things…and breaking things, are all part of the process.

We learned that tiny farm houses being remodeled really, really need storage and that Ikea makes really great countertops. That Behr all-in-one paint is the bomb and that rabbits shouldn’t be raised on pasture when all you have is a tiny backyard.

We’ve learned to hold each other when life melts down around us and uncertainty looms. That we really are strong enough together to make it through the storms of life. And that all the stuff…it just doesn’t really matter at all.

I’m starting to learn to slow down. We’ve packed so much into our time here and to be honest…I’m tired. I’m ready for slow days and leisurely dinners with our families. I’m ready to start to embrace the limits of having a young family instead of fighting them as I have with overzealous plans to be the best at everything.

I’ve learned that there isn’t enough time in a day for me to be the world’s best mom, wife, friend, blogger, gardener, homesteader, crafter, remodeler, house cleaner, volunteer and just plain individual that needs to eat, bathe and find time to pee.

I’ve learned I can’t have it all. So I want to pick the most important things to have in this next season.

I want to have more dinners and coffees with family and friends. I want to have more date nights and adventures with my husband. I want to have a more effective and satisfying work time.

I’ve learned I have to have less of other things.

Less stuff. Less clutter. Less wasted time that could be given to wiping a scraped knee and playing peek a boo. Less time trying to learn everything I could possibly need to know to make a successful blog and more time just writing on this blog that I love. Fewer screens and more paper. More photos and more words. 

I’ve learned that frantic last-minute preparations and fancy meals don’t make for good dinner parties. That simple things like chocolate and caramel make people…and toddlers very happy.

And that having the dishes done the day before a party because dessert is made ahead of time makes me happy.

I don’t know what this next season will look like, but I hope it will be as full of learning and living as the last season has been. 

Salted Dark Chocolate Caramel Tart

Yield: 1 tart

Prep Time: 1 days

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 days 1 hour

A Gateau Basque tart crust elevates this classic salted dark chocolate caramel tart to another level. Velvety sweet caramel and chocolate ganache are beautifully offset with crunchy sea salt.

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Ingredients

• For The Crust:
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups white wheat flour-pastry setting on WonderMill can sub all-purpose if no w.w
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons 9 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• For The Caramel:
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 tbsp. light corn syrup
• 6 tbsp. salted butter
• 6 tbsp. heavy cream
• For The Ganache:
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
• 2 oz. dark chocolate finely chopped
• Fleur de Sel or large grain sea salt for garnish

Instructions

For The Crust:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks, whole eggs, and lemon juice. Beat until they are thoroughly incorporated.
4. At low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture and the almond flour.
5. Scrape the pastry dough out onto a work surface and form it into 3 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm. Can be placed in the freezer to speed the process (at least 1 hr in the freezer).
6. Roll out 1 crust and prick crust with a fork. Line with parchment paper and pie weights or dry beans.
7. Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes until the crust is nicely brown and the center of the crust is cooked through. Cool.
For Caramel:

8. Combine water, sugar and corn syrup in a cold pan. Bring to a boil while stirring until sugar is completely dissolved in water.
9. Use a light-colored tall pot if available it will help you see the color change of syrup. Caramel will foam up 4-6 inches so use a tall pot to accommodate this.
10. Over medium to medium-high heat in a gently boil the sugar swirling the pan gently every few minutes. Do not stir. The syrup will begin to change color gradually at first and then rapidly. Be very attentive the first time you make caramel so you can learn the process or it is likely to burn.
11. Once medium amber color is achieved quickly remove from heat and CAREFULLY whisk in cream. Whisk quickly as you pour cream in and be careful not to burn yourself as the syrup foams up. Pour in the remainder of cream and add butter. Stir until combined and pour caramel into crust.
12. Chill for 2+ hours before adding chocolate.
For Chocolate Ganache:

13. Roughly chop chocolate.
14. Bring cream almost to a boil and pour over chocolate. Allow to set and then stir until smooth and creamy.
15. Pour over cooled caramel. Chill for 3+ hours preferably longer for hard set.
16. Top with Fleur de Sel or large grain sea salt. Pairs lovely with coffee or espresso.

Notes

Can be assembled over multiple days. Holds beautifully for days for the perfect make ahead dinner party dessert.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 10626Total Fat: 550gSaturated Fat: 286gTrans Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 229gCholesterol: 2484mgSodium: 8982mgCarbohydrates: 1276gFiber: 44gSugar: 811gProtein: 188g

Crust adapted from Food & Wine. Tart filling adapted from Saveur.