I feel it’s my duty to combine chocolate and caramel whenever possible and this No Bake Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart does that and more. Smooth, silky caramel, buttery chocolate cookie and whipped chocolate ganache – this is the stuff of dreams.

If you’re a true chocolate and caramel lover then try these Chocolate Caramel Brownies or these Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes.

Top down view of a tart with piped ganache stars all over it.

If you’re a regular here, you know how much I love salted caramel, so I decided to stick it in a tart surrounded by chocolate. This No Bake Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart has so much going for it.

  • Chocolate cookie base – just 2 ingredients.
  • Salted Caramel – the real deal from scratch.
  • Whipped chocolate ganache – that melts on your tongue.
  • No-bake – none, zip, zero.
  • It’s easier than it looks – just be confident and go for it.
  • And it’s a stunner – perfect for a dinner party or just spoiling yourself.

True caramel lovers will love this classic homemade caramel sauce too.

3 slices of chocolate caramel tart on white dessert plates with piped ganache stars on top.

Ingredients in this Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart

You only need 8 ingredients for this stunning tart.

Ingredients for chocolate salted caramel tart on a marble benchtop.
  • Cream: You’re after thickened, whipping or heavy cream here. You want something at least 35% fat so that it whips up.
  • Cookies: I use plain chocolate cookies (Arnotts Chocolate Ripple) but you can use any un-filled biscuit.
  • Sugar: Just plain white granulated sugar.
  • Chocolate: Dark chocolate is best as milk will be far too sweet. I use a 50% cocoa dark chocolate. A 70% will work too but you may want to add a touch of icing sugar to the ganache to remove any bitterness if you don’t like that. I find the 50% needs no extra sweetening and is the perfect chocolatey flavour.
  • Butter: In both the caramel and the base, there’s a good buttery hit to this chocolate salted caramel tart.
  • Vanilla: This is a great flavour enhancer and balancer.
  • Sea salt flakes: This turns it into a salted caramel and you can salt it to taste but if you don’t want that salty sweet flavour, still add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to enhance the flavours.
  • Glucose / Light corn syrup: This syrup helps the caramels texture and while you could make the caramel without it, there will be more chance of crystallisation which can be a little soul-destroying.

How to make it

There are a few steps – none are very difficult but you’ll need to pay attention when making the caramel. It’s easy if you follow the steps.

A collage of 4 images showing the making of a chocolate cookie tart shell.
  1. The cookie base (photos 1&2): Blitz cookies to crumbs, then mix with some melted butter and press into the base of a tin. Handy tip: Scatter the crumbs evenly over the base, use a glass to work from the middle out, in ever-larger circles until you reach the side. Now press your thumb along the top edge and press the glass up against it.
  2. The caramel part 1: Start by heating cream, butter and vanilla (photo 3) and set aside. Now heat the sugar, glucose and water in a pan (photo 4), stirring to dissolve.
4 images showing how to make salted caramel from scratch.
  1. The caramel, part 2: Once dissolved bring it to a boil (photo 5) until it’s amber in colour. Add the cream mixture (photo 6) and boil a little longer (photo 7) before pouring into the tart shell (photo 8).
A collage of 4 images showing how to make and pipe the whipped chocolate ganache.
  1. Now for the ganache: Heat milk and pour it over finely chopped chocolate (photo 9) before stirring it to a thick smooth ganache (photo 10). Let it cool then whip until it’s fluffy (photo 11), then pipe over the tart (photo12).

Tips for a perfect salted caramel tart

  • For the base: You could try the Oreo base from this chocolate mousse tart or the tim tam base from this Tim Tam cheesecake.
  • For the caramel, make sure everything is impeccably clean before starting. Caramel can crystallise if there is even a speck of something that shouldn’t belong like a bit of grease in the pan or on the spatula.
  • Glucose / light corn syrup: Try not to skip this as it helps prevent crystallisation of the caramel and to keep it a silky smooth texture.
  • Candy thermometer: You don’t absolutely need this but it will help the caramel get to the exact stage you want it. For a firm but chewy (and still soft enough to cut through) caramel, get the temperature to 115C – 118C (240F-245F).
  • Gooey-er caramel: If you don’t want to use a candy thermometer, just cook it for the time suggested and at worst, your caramel will be softer and a little gooey. Nothing wrong with that.
  • Plain ganache: Whipping the ganache is optional. If you don’t want to take that extra step, just spread it over the chocolate as soon as you mixed the cream and chocolate together.
  • Whipped ganache: The ganache will need to be cool to the touch before trying to whip it or it won’t work. It only needs to be beaten with an electric beater for about 1 minute to be whipped. Work quickly after this as it may start to firm up.
  • Setting time: If you can make this first thing in the morning without stopping, it will be perfectly set for dinner time however it’s best made the day before to be sure it’s set.

One mouthful of this chocolate tart and you’ll be in chocolate caramel heaven. Roll-your-eyes-to-the-sky-worthy. I love that this is such an easy dessert, using every day ingredients, yet it looks like something you bought from a French patisserie.

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3 white dessert plates with slices of chocolate caramel tart. A forkful sits to the side.

If you try this No Bake Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart recipe, make sure to come back and leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you.

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Top down view of 3 slices of chocolate caramel tart on white dessert plates.

No-Bake Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart

Yield: 12 serves
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Setting time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
4.9 from 8 ratings
Calling all fans of salted caramel and chocolate – this No Bake Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart is for you. With a simple chocolate cookie base, real salted caramel from scratch and gorgeous whipped ganache topping, this you only need 8 ingredients for this showstopping dessert.
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Ingredients

FOR THE CHOCOLATE COOKIE BASE;

  • 250 g Choc cookies (8.8oz)
  • 113 g unsalted butter melted (4oz / 1 stick)

FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL

  • 113 g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes (4oz / 1 stick)
  • 1 cup thickened / heavy cream (250ml)
  • 300 g white granulated sugar (1 ½ cup / 10.5oz)
  • ¼ cup water (60ml)
  • 2 tablespoons glucose (or light corn syrup) (notes 1)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt flakes
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

FOR THE WHIPPED CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  • 250 g finely chopped dark (50%) chocolate (2 cups / 8.8oz)
  • 1 cup thickened cream (250ml)

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Instructions
 

FOR THE CHOCOLATE COOKIE BASE:

  • Process cookies in a food processor to crumbs. Stir through the melted butter until well coated.
  • Tip the crumbs into a 23cm (9 inch) fluted tart tin and press down firmly all over with the bottom of a glass, into the corners and up the sides. Place in fridge to set.

FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL

  • Place the cream and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter has dissolved and the mixture is steaming. Set aside.
  • Place the sugar, water and glucose in a large heavy based saucepan and stir over low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and stop stirring. Swirl the pan every couple of minutes to make sure it’s heating evenly.
  • Once it turns amber gold in colour (see photos in post), pour in the cream and butter mixture (carefully as it may splatter). Whisk in with a balloon whisk.
  • Bring the mixture back to a boil still over low-medium heat, and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 115C / 240F.
  • Stir through the salt and vanilla then let it cool for 10 minutes before pouring into the tart shell.

FOR THE WHIPPED CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  • Make sure the chocolate is finely chopped and place in a heat proof bowl.
  • Heat the cup of cream over low-medium heat, swirling every so often, until bubbles just start to appear.
  • Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and give the bowl a little shake to settle the chocolate under the cream. Let it sit for 2 minutes to soften, before stirring to a smooth, glossy ganache.
  • The ganache can be used like this and spread straight over the caramel, or continue on to whip it.
  • Let the ganache cool until cool to the touch. You can do this at room temperature (about an hour) or in the fridge, stirring every so often (15 – 20 minutes). It should be thick but still soft enough to stir.
  • Use an electric beater to beat the ganache for about 1 minute until thick and fluffy and the colour of milk chocolate.
  • You can spread this over the tart or transfer to a piping bag to pipe on. I used a star tip and a plain round tip to pipe the design on this one.

Notes

  1. I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide).
  2. For a chewier caramel, after adding the cream mixture, boil until it hits 115-118C (240-245F). For a gooier caramel, just boil it for 3 minutes. This will set much softer and once served it will begin to seep out of the tart.
MORE TART RECIPES!
Calories: 591kcal
Author: Marie Roffey
Course: Dessert, Sweets
Cuisine: American, French
Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.