Mini Dark Chocolate Tarts with Salted Caramel Sauce

These mini dark chocolate tarts are rich and delicious. The salted caramel sauce only takes 10 minutes to make, but gives them a lovely extra flavour dimension. Perfect for a party, dessert or afternoon tea. 

Recipe commissioned by Thermapen.

Can I tempt you with a mini dark chocolate tart? How about if we then drizzle it with a decadent and delicious salted caramel sauce?... Yeah, I knew you'd want one. 

These teeny tiny little bites of deliciousness are a show-stopping party food. But they're actually really easy to make! 

Feel free to make your own shortcrust pastry, but you can also cheat a little and use store bought pastry or even buy pre-made mini tart shells. That cuts the time and effort for these tasty treats right down and shhhhhh.... I won't tell anyone. 

Then you can get on with the fun business of making the decadent dark chocolate cream filling and the dreamy salted caramel sauce.

Tasty Tarts

A rich truffle-like chocolate cream filling, nestled inside a crisp pastry case. Seriously, what more could you want in a dessert that's perfect for a party or buffet? Wait, you want to add a flavourful salted caramel sauce for extra decadence!

I promise that both elements of this recipe are really easy. Melting, heating and stirring. Just be careful when you add the cream to the caramel - the sugar-water gets very hot and the cold cream bubbles up a bit. 

You will need:

For the mini dark chocolate tarts
1 package of shortcrust pastry, or store bought mini tart shells
double cream (aka heavy cream)
dark chocolate
caster sugar
butter
vanilla

For the salted caramel sauce:
water
granulated sugar
double cream (aka heavy cream)
vanilla
sea salt

Other equipment:
Bowl
Pan
Wooden spoon
Food Thermometer (I use a Thermapen® )
Baking Tray
Baking paper
Whisk
Jar

Thermapen®

For these tasty mini chocolate tarts (and many other recipes!), I use a Thermapen® food thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of many recipes and helps to ensure success.

For years I've been using mine for everything from honeycomb and homemade lollipops, to carrot and ginger hot cross buns and pecan brittle. It's also really great for bread and I use it for my delicious date and walnut loaf. 

Food thermometers are perhaps thought of as mainly useful for meat, but as a vegetarian, I still use it all the time. It's particularly useful for bread as well as plenty of sweet treats.

The  SuperFast Thermapen® 4 Cooks Thermometer is the UK’s best-selling food thermometer.
* Measures a temperature range of -49.9 to 299.9 °C.
* Used worldwide by hundreds of thousands of cooks
* Fast, accurate and convenient
* Patented 360° self-rotating display that automatically turns to make it readable in any position.

How to Make Mini Dark Chocolate Tarts with Salted Caramel Drizzle

For the Dark Chocolate Tarts: 
Step 1: Add the cream, butter, chocolate and sugar to a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
Step 2: Melt together, stirring until smooth and glossy. 
Step 3: Spoon into the pastry cases. 

For the Salted Caramel Sauce
Step 1: Add the water and sugar to a pan over a medium/high heat. 
Step 2: Bring to the boil. 

Step 3: Heat until a dark amber colour and 175C. 
Step 4: Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. 

Step 5: Stir in the vanilla and sea salt. 
Step 6: Drizzle over the chocolate tarts and pour the remainder into a jar. 

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you!
Leave a comment and star rating below and share a picture on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #veggiedesserts.

Get the Mini Chocolate Tarts with Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

Mini Dark Chocolate Tarts with Salted Caramel Sauce

Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts

These mini dark chocolate tarts are rich and delicious. The salted caramel sauce only takes 10 minutes to make, but gives them a lovely extra flavour dimension. Perfect for a party, dessert or afternoon tea. 

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Chilling 2 hrs

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, International

Servings 36

Calories 160 kcal

Ingredients

 

For the pastry

• 36 store bought mini tart cases (Or 320g/11oz package store bought shortcrust pastry)

For the chocolate cream filling

• 300 ml double cream (heavy cream)
• 300 g (1 ⅔ cups chopped or chips) dark chocolate chopped
• 5 tbsp caster sugar
• 50 g (⅓ stick) butter cut into small cubes
• ¼ tsp vanilla

For the salted caramel sauce

• 125 ml (½ cup) water
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp sea salt

Instructions

 

If not using pre-made pastry cases:

• Preheat oven to 200ºC/400F. Lightly grease the cups of a mini muffin tin.
• Roll the dough out thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut the pastry into discs slightly larger than the diameter of the muffin cups. Gently press each one into the muffin tin. Prick the bases with a fork a few times then leave to rest in the fridge for 10 minutes.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden. Allow to cool completely.

For the chocolate cream filling

• Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the cream, chocolate, sugar, butter and vanilla. Stir until it all melts together and becomes glossy and smooth.
• Pour into the pastry cases and gently tap to level and remove any air bubbles.
• Allow to cool slightly, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

For the salted caramel sauce

• Measure out all the ingredients first. Add the water to a saucepan, then pour in the sugar (Note: don’t stir, but just allow the sugar to melt into the water - you don’t want to splash the sugar against the sides). 
• Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat for about 5-7 minutes until it turns a rich amber colour and the food thermometer reads 175C/350F.
• Remove the pan from the heat and very carefully (the sugar water is HOT!) whisk in the cream. It will bubble up a lot. Then stir in the vanilla and salt.
• Allow to cool then drizzle over the chilled chocolate tarts and sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt.
• Pour the remainder into a sterilised glass jar and allow to cool. It’s delicious on ice cream, crumble, cupcakes or even the odd sneaky teaspoon straight out of the jar.

Video

Notes

You can make your own pastry, use store bought shortcrust pastry or buy premade mini tart shells. 

 

 

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is created with online calculators. Info will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Nutrition

Calories: 160kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 1gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 91mgPotassium: 76mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 230IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 16mgIron: 1.3mg

The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.

Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts! I love seeing your recreations.

Thanks for checking out my recipe! I love hearing from my readers. You all allow me to do what I love and write this UK food blog, sharing vegetarian and vegan recipes, vegetable cake recipes and also easy vegan desserts.
Kate x

Disclosure: This recipe was commissioned by Thermapen. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make it possible for me to be a UK food blogger and write Veggie Desserts.