DARING BAKERS - Chocolate Tart

                             All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. - Charles M. Shulz.




Chocolate haunts me.  Let's face it we either love or hate chocolate.  Do you Love chocolate or Hate it?

With every kind of chocolate in my pantry, you can easily guess how much I use it and enjoy it. My  coffee gets a dose some days and that's a treat.

So, it came as a pleasant surprise when I saw a message from DARING BAKERS. This month's challenge is hosted by the very talented Rachel from PizzaRossa  Being my first with Daring Bakers Challenge, I smiled with excitement.  I've always admired the recipes they put out and how impressive the final result turns out.



Passionate about Baking, is one of the blogs I follow religiously.  Deeba, the author has some stunning desserts and shows how passionate she is about baking.  She, I can say inspired me to join Daring Bakers  indirectly.





Not much to think about, because the recipe was laid out, the rules were, not to mess around too much with the original recipe..I was ready for it with excitement.



 After choosing a CHOCOLATE CARAMEL Tart, for obvious reasons, I decided to steer a bit from the original recipe just to suit my taste. I had fun with it, isn't that the whole point.

The crust I chose was coconut and macadamia which was a bit nuttier and a simple chocolate ganache with coconut milk. It was perfect combination of tropical and chocolate combined. The silky smoothness was a delight.  If you love coconut, this is surely be a pleasing dessert.

COCONUT CARAMEL CHOCOLATE TART

Ingredients:

For the base:
coconut powder             - 1 cup
macadamia nut powder  -  1 cup
Agave nectar                 - 2 tbsp
vegetable oil                -  2 tbsp
pinch of salt   

For the filling:
coconut milk                            -  1 cup
bitter sweet chocolate chips     -   1 cup
caramel syrup                           -   1 cup(cream+ water cooked to caramel color)
vanilla extract                          -   1/2 tsp
agar powder                            -   1 tsp ( alternative to eggs, you could use gelatin too)

topping
shredded coconut and caramelized macadamia nuts.

Method:

1. Process the coconut powder, macadamia powder along with agave nectar, oil and salt. Once you pinch it together and it holds shape, then you know the tart base is ready. Do not overwork the dough. Press the mixture in a 8 or 9 inch tart pan, evenly. 
2. After preheating the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, bake the base for 15-20 minutes making sure not to burn the edges. Let the base cool on a rack for an hour.
3. Mix the agar powder in 3 tbsp of coconut milk and keep aside.
4. For the filling, heat the coconut milk till scalding point and pour it in the chocolate chips.  Mix well and add the agar mix to it to.  
5. Add add caramel syrup and vanilla extract.  Mix till smooth. 
6.  Let cool and pour it in the tart base and chill it for 2 hours or until set. NOTE- when you refrigerate it, in order to prevent it from forming a coating, wrap with plastic wrap.  Let the wrap touch the chocolate filling.
7. Top with shredded coconut and caramelized macadamia nuts.

For Caramel:

Spread the sugar evenly across the bottom of a small, heavy-based, non- coated saucepan (it needs to be metallic so you can see the color). Heat over a medium-low heat without stirring until the sugar starts to melt and becomes liquid around the edges. Once about a quarter of it has melted, gently stir continuously with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula until it turns a deep amber color, a few minutes depending on how high the heat is.

Remove from heat and very slowly and carefully pour 1 cup of the hot cream into the caramel, stirring continuously – it will splutter and steam so be very careful as it is extremely hot. The cream needs to be hot and poured very slowly, otherwise the caramel will seize. Keep stirring until it stops bubbling and is well combined then set aside to cool.

Caramelized Macadamia Nuts
In a pan, add 3 tbsp of sugar to 1 tsp of water and 1/2 tbsp of butter.  When it gets to a caramel color, add the hazelnuts. Mix well and let the mixture coat the nuts.  Take it out on a wax paper and let cool. 

NOTE- This is eggless, I have use Agar to set the chocolate part.  
ENJOY!!