Decadence

Usually, I try to be sensible. Well, if your definition of sensible involves pie crusts with 1:1 ratios of butter to flour.
Sometimes, however, life calls for moments of absolute decadence. Even by my standards. It calls for:

Pastry crusts made entirely of chocolate;

the moment of delicious contrast when a whisk cuts sharply and thinly through the soft slurshing and whispering of bubbling caramel;

showers of liquor, and the resulting steam which fills the kitchen - warm, soft, exotic;

the slosh of generous servings of pure cream, all silky and white;

the tawny gloss of caramel waterfalls;

sprinklings of dark chocolate;

the shimmer of melted chocolate;

it calls for a complete lack of restraint;

it calls for Chocolate Caramel Tart.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Chocolate Crust

1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. Dutch-process unsweetened
cocoa powder
1⁄4 tsp. salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 cup plus sugar
2 egg yolks
1⁄2 tsp. almond extract

½ tsp. orange extract

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light colored.
3. Add the egg yolks and beat thoroughly.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. I used an electric beater to make sure everything was really fluffy and well combined.
5. Add the extracts. I think most people would have gone with vanilla. We ran out of vanilla and thus was born a wonderful new combination of flavors. Also, I’m a sucker for orange and chocolate anything. I also thought some almond flavor in the crust would help bolster the almond topping.
6. Line your pie tin (or tins) with a 1/5 a centimeter of the dough all around.
7. Put the pies in the freezer for 15 minutes (or fridge for 30) to rest for a bit.
8. Preheat oven to 350 F and bake for 20 minutes. Or until the edges of crust are just starting to crisp up. Basically this is a cookie crust so follow the same rules as for cookies
   
   

Caramel

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

1 large teaspoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2-3 tablespoon bourbon

1. In a heavy bottomed pan, mix first four ingredients and allow mixture to boil using a medium high heat. While waiting, be sure to stir occasionally and make sure it doesn’t burn. You may also want to brush down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water. The mixture sometimes splashes up onto the sides of the pan and the resulting burnt sugar crystals have a peculiar smell.
2. Continue boiling for 5-7 minutes or until the resulting syrup is a light amber color. Once it begins to brown, it will darken very quickly so make sure to take it off before it gets very dark or you will burn it.
3. Add the heavy cream. Be careful not to burn yourself as the syrup will bubble up furiously with the new addition. Stir well.
4. Add the butter and continue stirring until it has melted.
5. Add the bourbon to taste (or rather to smell since the syrup is far too hot to taste at this point)
6. Let cool for about five minutes before pouring into the pie crust.

Chocolate Ganache

½ cup heavy cream

6 oz bittersweet chocolate

1. Melt cream and chocolate together over a double boiler
2. Allow to cool
3. Pour over the caramel

Toasted Almonds

¼ cup almond slices

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Lay almond slices on a cookie sheet
3. Toast in oven for about ten minutes or until they become light brown
4. Sprinkle over the tarts
5. Put tarts in freezer for a half hour or until they have set