Chocolate Ganache and Caramel Tartlets

On my last two posts we made the Vanilla Short Crust Tart Dough and made our tart shells.  We also made the Caramel Filling. We’re just about ready to take our tarts out of the refrigerator or freezer and check to see if our caramel has set. Now we need to make the chocolate ganache which is basically 1 cup heavy cream with 16 oz of chopped up semisweet chocolate pieces with a 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt.

Directions:

In a small saucepan on medium heat add the cream and salt. Let simmer. In a medium heatproof bowl add the chocolate pieces and pour in the cream. Let stand to melt the chocolate, about 10 minutes. Stir slowly with a spatula until smooth. Spoon ganache over caramel and place in refrigerator 30 minutes or freezer 10 minutes, to set. Check before serving. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Yum Yum!

FYI: So why do we call it chocolate ganache and not simply a chocolate sauce or syrup? Ganache was invented in France in 1850 and its a French word that means jowl. Ganache is made by pouring warm cream over chocolate. Depending on the ratio of cream to chocolate or if any other ingredient is added, ganache can be used as a glaze, as a filling or as a base to make truffles. It can also be whipped to increase the consistency and used like icing on a cake.