This caramel crème brûlée tart is a smooth, caramel custard in a flaky crust, topped with that classic crunchy toffee. It's easier than you might think too!
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
food processor
Rolling Pin
9 inch fluted tart pan with removable base
kitchen blowtorch
mixing bowl
Saucepan
Instructions
FOR THE PASTRY:In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, the cold butter and a pinch of salt. Process until the pieces of butter are about lentil sized. Add the egg and pulse on low until it resembles bread crumbs. Be careful not to overprocess. Finally, with the processor on low, dribble in the cold water and let it continue blending until it start to form clumps.
Turn the pastry dough out onto a clean surface and pull it together with your hands, kneading it just enough to make it mostly smooth.
Dust the surface with flour, place the dough on top and dust a little flour over the top of the dough. Roll it out to about 4mm (⅙ inch) thick and about 11 inch round, moving it regularly and adding a little flour as necessary – try not to add too much though.
Place the rolling pin in the middle of the dough and fold one side of the pastry over the top. Lift the rolling pin so the pastry is hanging over it, and lightly dust off any excess flour from underneath. Carefully lay it into a 9 inch round tart pan with removeable base.
Press the dough down in to the corners all the way round, then press it into the scalloped sides. Leave the overhang standing upright and place the tart pan into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
PAR BAKE THE TART SHELL:Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F.
Use a fork to prick the pastry base all over. Use a small paring knife to trim off the excess pastry laying the blade flat to the edge of the tin and working around.
Line the tart shell with a sheet of baking paper and fill pie weights or rice. Fill it quite full and making sure it’s pressed up tight against the edges.
Bake for 15 minutes then carefully remove the paper and pie weights and bake a further 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before going onto the filling.
FOR THE FILLING:IMPORTANT! Reduce the oven to 160C (140C fan forced) / 320F.
Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until you see it steaming. Stir in the salt.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg and caramel to combine.
Very slowly pour half of the hot cream mixture into the eggs while gently stirring with a whisk at the same time, then pour in the rest. TIPS: Make sure to pour slowly so the sudden heat doesn't scramble the eggs. Don’t whisk too aggressively or you’ll get a lot of froth.
Pour the mixture through a strainer into a large pouring jug or back into the saucepan, then use a spoon to carefully skim just the froth off the top if there’s any.
Pull the oven shelf part way out and put the tart shell, still in it’s tin, onto the shelf. Now pour in the filling - as long as your tart shell didn’t shrink too much, the filling will fill just shy of the top of the tart shell. If it did shrink, you can fill it to the top, then pour any leftover into a little ramekin and bake it right alongside the tart as a cooks treat.
If there are lots of bubbles over the top, just gently run the back of a spoon over them to dissolve them away.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the filling has a wobble when you give it a gentle shake but doesn’t look fluid.
Let it cool for 20 minutes then refrigerate to set for at least 2 hours.
Right before serving, sprinkle the extra sugar over the top then use a kitchen blowtorch to melt and caramelise the sugar.
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Notes
Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
Your caramel needs to be thick - dollop off the spoon thickness, not runny. Bonne Maman is gorgeous and perfect and what I used here but even dulce de leche from a can will work great. A runny caramel sauce may not set so well but if it’s all you can get, add an extra egg yolk to the filling.
Nutrition details are approximate only - scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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.