Chocolate Tart with Salted Caramel

Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry

• Split the vanilla bean so you can scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. 
• Put the sugar on the cutting board and mix the vanilla seeds with the sugar. Use the back of the knife again for this.
• Mix soft butter with the "vanilla sugar," powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt with a spatula/spoon. 
• Add the egg and stir well.
• Finally, add flour and almond flour. Use your hands to combine it, and it’s important that it only just comes together (do not knead).
• Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle flour on the countertop and unwrap the dough. 
• Use a rolling pin to roll the dough thin and cut it into smaller pieces, for example, use a bowl that is 3-4 cm larger than your tart bases. I used an 11 cm cutter and placed the dough in an 8 cm tart ring.
• Grease the tart bases with either neutral oil or soft butter unless they are non-stick.
• Place the dough on the tart bases and press the sides down well. Use a knife to cut around the edge to remove the excess dough.
• Freeze the tart bases for 30-45 minutes. 
• Bake the tart bases at 190 degrees Celsius (374 degrees Fahrenheit) in a conventional oven for 15 minutes until they are golden.
• Remove them from the oven and let them cool on a rack to room temperature, which takes 10-15 minutes.
• Then remove them from the form and place them back on the rack.
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• Put water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Chop the chocolate coarsely (unless you are using callets) and place them in a bowl larger than the saucepan.
• Turn down the heat and place the bowl with chocolate over the water bath until melted.
• Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk the coffee into the mixture. Finally, whisk in the egg yolks until you have a uniform mixture.
• Let it cool at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
• In another bowl, whisk the cream to whipped cream. I always use a whisk and do it by hand. I don’t want it to separate/overwhip.
• Generally, you should whip it less than you think. This is because the cream continues to "work" after you’re done, so it should just barely be whipped to a foam, then it usually turns out perfect for use.
• Carefully fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, making sure not to deflate it.
• Pour the chocolate mousse into a desired form (I used a silicone mold) and freeze it until fully set. This takes about 10-12 hours.
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• Combine glucose syrup, sugar, and cream in a pot. The pot should preferably be relatively large as the mixture will boil up a lot.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-high heat (8-9 out of 14 on my stove). 
• Let it simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes.
• When it reaches about 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), remove it from the heat.
• Add the chocolate and sea salt and stir.
• Let it cool slightly and put the caramel sauce into a piping bag.
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• Pour sugar into a pan and melt it over low heat (3-4 out of 14 on my stove).
• For heaven's sake, do not let it burn and do not stir the sugar until it is completely melted.
• It will turn a light golden color when fully melted.
• Add the nuts and stir a few times.
• Let it sit for a couple of minutes so the nuts can absorb all the caramel.
• Remove it from the pan and place it on a piece of parchment paper.
• Once cooled, chop it into smaller pieces. 
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• Take the chocolate mousse out of the freezer. The time it takes to assemble the tarts is about the time it takes for them to thaw enough to be neither too hard (frozen) nor too soft.
• Put the chocolate caramel sauce in the bottom of the tart bases.
• Next, add a spoonful of the praline.
• Place the chocolate mousse on top and decorate with the chocolate caramel sauce.
• Bon appétit.
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