Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart

I am now a Daring Baker and I have the scars to prove it.  My first challenge was this Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart chosen by  Veronica and Patricia .  The first thing was to make the pastry case. Which I did in my removable base tart pan. All was going smoothly until I removed the pan from the oven. Somewhere between oven and bench my hand ended up in the wrong place and I saw the middle of the pastry case rise up in the air. I could cope with picking up the beans used in the blind baking but there was no way I wanted pastry crumbs all over the kitchen floor. In my attempt to catch the pastry, which I did successfully, the outer ring ended up halfway down my arm between wrist and elbow, leaving a long double lined burn on  my inner arm.

The pastry case was rescued with a couple of cracks in the crust. I knew if I used it for the caramel layer I would end up with most of the caramel on the bottom of my oven. Luckily there was plenty of pastry and certainly enough for a second pastry case, this time in a ceramic dish.

Reading the others comments on the special Daring Bakers website, who had been there ahead of me on the caramel making front, I was a bit nervous about the dry caramel method.  Using a heavy based  saucepan on a heat mat placed over the gas flame I melted the sugar very slowly. I looked away for a moment and it went a little darker than planned.  Not a bad thing though as I liked the end result of the caramel layer.

Then wearing my rubber washing up gloves and a long wooden spoon I added the cream which I had heated first. It didn't spit or hiss but quietly blended itself into the caramel. There were a few lumps but they dissolves as I stirred.

The chocolate mousse layer looks a little dark because although the packet said milk chocolate it was more dark than milk.

Finally the toffee layer on the top. This time I watched it carefully as the sugar melted slowly  and bubbled to hard caramel perfection.

Personally I didn't like the  tart. Far too sweet for me, too many flavours clashing in the pastry, and I didn't like the texture of  the chocolate mousse. The men in the house couldn't get enough of it, the nieghbours enjoyed it and I've been craving savoury ever since I ate my slice.  I did enjoy the left over toffee though.

The Daring Bakers is the brainchild of Ivonne  and Lisa . Thank you  Ivonne for inviting me to join this lovely bunch of baking bloggers. And a big thank you to Veronica and Patricia  for hosting the August challenge. 

Comments

[The Culinary Chase]

Wow! The photo looks good enough to eat so I guess the trauma of it all was well worth it! :) Cheers!

[peabody]

Oh no, you certainly do have the scars to prove it!!!! Well done.

[Meeta]

Barbara, welcome to the club also to the club of scars! I think we should all take pictures of our scars as well as the challenge to show what we are risking. A fantastic first challenge - bravo!!

[Anh]

barbara. Well-done for the first challange. You have done a marvelous job! :D

Oh, i crave for savoury stuff after this tart, too.

[Morven]

ouch Ouch OUCH! That sounded like one of those culinary disasters that you can almost see in slow motion in your mind's eyey.

Your tart looks gorgeous [ the caramel is like little butterfly wings.

[Mary]

As I was reading your post, I thought your scars would be from making the caramel not from the tart pan. :) I hope you're okay. But now that you've been "marked", you're really a daring baker.

[Jen the bread freak]

I love your caramel decor! I'm really enjoying seeing how everyone's tarts turned out. Yours is lovely! :D

[Lisa]

Acckkk! Now that had to hurt. :(

I'm sorry your first challenge was a bit uhh more daring than most! But cheers to a beautiful tart!

xoxo

[Anne]

lovely tart! It looks pretty inviting. I'm glad you join the group :)

[Kat]

Ouch! I hope you are okay. What a way to initiate yourself as a DB! Your tart looks really delicious.

[Frédérique]

This sounds like quite an adventure!

The tart reminds me of one my mom has made a few times, and I attempted once too - probably from Gourmet? or Chocolat magazine? - with two thin layers of caramel ganache and dark chocolate ganache, topped with fresh blood orange pieces and drizzled with dark & white chocolate. The amazingly sweet ganache is wonderfully offset by the fresh, slightly bitter oranges. This tart was the only time my flatmate of 4 years ate something I'd made in its entirety (but for a 2" piece I'd had) and then sheepishly pretended he hadn't...

[ilva]

Barbara, I'm happy that I'm not alone in liking this cake 100%! It's nice but too many flavours... I'm happy you are a DB member!

[brilynn]

I wasn't a fan of the dough either. But my sweet sweet tooth loved the filling.

[veron]

Scarred in battle as a Daring Baker! Your tart looks gorgeous, so sorry you did not like it. I found mine too sweet too but I have a feeling if I used dark chooclate and a deeper caramel I might just love it.

[Deborah]

I also thought that there were too many flavors going on. It sounds like you didn't encounter too many problems, though, besides a few burns!

[kellypea]

Congrats on your first challenge! I've a scar on my arm from a recent baking incident as well, so understand. I always put my pans on a baking sheet -- mostly because I don't want stuff on the bottom of my oven, but also, because I've been know to drop things...Scars tell a good story, though...And your tart is gorgeous. I, too, loved the shard art.

[chrisb]

barbara I do hope the burn is healing. I think it looks delicious and I love toffee so I'd have to try it before declaring it too sweet !!

[Patricia Scarpin]

I think you started off beautifully, Barbara - we are so glad to have you on the team!

I'm sorry to hear you had problems and also that you didn't like the tart, but I guess it's part of the process, right? Glad to know the boys liked it. :)

[Kelly Mahoney]

I like the sound of this combination. I don't think you could go wrong with caramel and chocolate.

[Dagmar]

Well done, congratulations on your first challenge! I didn't like the tart either, it was OK but too sweet.

[barbara]

How lovely to wake up this morning to see everyones comments. Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment.
To the Daring Bakers - Thank you for being such a welcoming group.

[Bruno]

Great looking tart Barbara! I guess all that work was worth the battle scars!!

[Amanda @ Little Foodies]

Lovely! Can't believe you got a battle scar on the first go Barbara. Hope it heals quickly.

[Sylvia]

I was sawing the another people who participate in this challenge ,and I wondering if this tart is quite sweet. You answered my doubt.Sweetness apart you made a great tart and take a lovely picture

[Elle]

So sorry about the scars...the kitchen is a dangerous place for Daring Bakers...but your tart is lovely, especially the decorations. I found the tart sweet, too, but enjoyed it anyway. So gald you are a DB and did such a great job with the first go round.

[Ivonne]

Barbara,

Congratulations on completing your very first Daring Baker challenge! Even though you didn't like the tart, I think it turned out beautifully!

[Lydia]

Another Daring Baker! It's always fun to read about the monthly challenge.

[Jann]

yee gads, you poor dear~at least you got it made and it looked wonderful-such a challenge!

[Tartelette]

Great job! looks gorgeous! Ouch on that arm, I do hope it heals fast. Sophie and Bill loved it, I did not care for it much either.

[sam]

baptism by fire???

Is it true you can't be a daring baker unless you are invited?

[barbara]

Thank you everyone for your comments. It was fun to participate and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Sam - I'm sure the DB's would love to have you onboard.

[Sara]

It's always a relief to get the first challenge out of the way! Looks great.

[Katie]

A fellow first time Draing Baker! I think your tart looks great. The caramel decoration looks fantastic, so thin and clear.

[Jenny]

I did the exact same thing when I made a blueberry tart last month - the outside slid down my arm! Yeowch, hope your arm is feeling better.

[Chelsea]

Congrats on your first challenge -sorry about the war wound. And we thought that secret handshakes were all we had to worry about!

[Aoife]

Ooh, sorry about the scars! I was so paranoid that would happen to me. Even if it was too sweet for you, your tart looks great!

[arfi]

Barb, I'm impressed!!

[Wendy]

Everytime I take the ring off a springform pan I end up wearing it as a messy bracelet but not searing hot-ouch, poor you. Your tart crust is so nice and thin. Your tart looks dark and delicious. I am glad "the boys" enjoyed it. Wendy

[joey]

Congratulations on being a daring baker :) Your first challenge came out looking great...sorry to hear about your arm though! Hope it's feeling better! Gosh you quickly lived up to the "daring" part huh?

[Jenny]

Ouch! I hope your arm is feeling better!
Well done on the challenge, even if you didn't enjoy the final results, you persisted and are a Daring Baker!

[Inne]

Welcome to the Daring Bakers Barbara. Sorry to hear 'we' scarred you. Your tart looks absolutely perfect, even though you didn't like it...

[Tanna]

I am so happy you have joined the "gang" Barbara. Your tart looks divine, the guys liked it here too.
Sorry about that first tart crust from the oven but your write up was excellent!

[Tara]

Sorry to hear you got your first DB scar. I am yet to recieve one, although my clothes did get spattered in caramel while I was stirring in the cream. It dried a very wrong colour let me tell you it didn't look very ladylike. Maybe I need an apron?

Congratulations on a beautiful tart :) I hope your arm heals well.

[Amy]

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your burn. :( Great job on your first challenge!

[barbbara]

Thank you everyone for your comments. This has been a great learning experience and I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

[leslie]

OMG - I'm so sorry about the burn! Yeeeeouch! Nothing hurts more than a burn! The result looks beautiful though, and I do agree about the sugar/flavour overload. But wasn't the caramel the best thing ever?

[heather]

oh goodness, I hope your arm has healed. I almost lost my tart several time when this happened after it had been in the fridge.

[Chris]

Congrats on your first challenge! Barbara - get better soon. Take care of that arm!

[barbara]

Leslie, Heather, Chris - thanks for dropping by. The arm is all better now.

[Andrea]

Ouch!! That sounds EXACTLY like something I would do! Your tart did turn out lovely!!