Caramel Peanut Butter Ganache Tart

This week’s recipe post is both very personal and special to me and here’s why…

Several months ago, I was traveling 3 hours round trip a few days a week to work with a client in London. Normally, when I travel, I’ll listen to music, get lost in my thoughts, create new recipes in my head and use it as a time of contemplation. But at this time in my life, for some reason, I decided to seek out some podcasts to listen to. Now, bare in mind, I know nothing about podcasts and have no idea what I am looking for, but I know there are some people I like who have podcasts. I find Elizabeth Gilbert’s podcast “Magic Lessons” and start digging in on my travels to and from work. She’s essentially helping people express themselves creatively and troubleshooting why they hold themselves back.

Of course, what I do is hugely creative, so I find this podcast inspiring and touching. The stories people share of their journey’s are so emotional and they bare themselves to the world in these 20 minutes. That, in and of itself, is inspiring.

After these people share, Elizabeth will call on someone she feels can lend wisdom to their situation. It’s a short, 10 minute call with these people, but they drop BOMBS.

In one episode, she calls a guy named Rob Bell. I had never heard of any of the people she’d call and Rob was no exception. In those 10 minutes of him speaking to her situation, I was floored with wisdom bombs from this highly articulate man and the love with which he spoke from. From this first intro to Rob, I had this sense of, “This guy is exactly who he sounds like he is.” And that’s a rare thing, I find, to be able to take someone at face value and feel comfortable with them having not met them.

For some odd reason, it took me a week or so to research him and find that he also had a podcast. When I did find him, I dug in and I dug in hard. This guy was dropping bombs left right and centre, things that resonated with me massively and spoken in a way that’s like spiritual comedy. He’s so funny and it cuts the heaviness of the topics and reminds me that humour, and our ability to be light with ourselves, is the key to the kingdom.

In one episode Rob announces that he’s coming to London and asks his listeners to get in touch if they know of a venue that would like to host him to do a talk. There I am walking up from the tube, wracking my brain trying to think of where I could host him and, simultaneously, asking myself “Why do you want to host him?” and the answer is, “I just want to hang out with him and make him dinner.”

So, I send the email and forget about it.

2 days later, I wake up to see a reply from Rob and the subject line is… “Yep, we’re in.”
(best day ever!)

I was speechless, stunned and unbelievably excited. As a chef, of course, I’m already reeling off what I can make for dinner, but, more importantly, for dessert! In his podcasts, Rob refers to peanut butter frequently. Like, it’s a thing in his life. 🙂 I also got some inside info from his lovely wife, Kristen, that he loves peanut butter and chocolate. And so it is. And this week’s recipe post is the dessert I served Rob Bell. I hope to create many more for him in the future and I hope that you enjoy it as much as he and his friends did.

Notes –

• You can swap out any nut in place of peanuts and peanut butter. Almond would work nicely, but something a little more flavourful would be better, like hazelnuts or tahini.

• If you don’t want to swirl the ganache and caramel, you could do a layer of caramel, set it in the freezer 15 – 20 mins and then pour the ganache on top. Like the Millionaire Shortbread recipe.
• The tart can use something to cut through the density of it and the raspberry Coulis works really well, but a store bought sorbet would also work amazingly well. Strawberry, raspberry and cherry are all great options.

Peanut Oat Crust
50g ( ½ cup ) rolled oats
120g ( 1 cup ) oat flour – rolled oats made into flour in the blender
50g ( ⅓ cup ) lucuma ( can be replaced with 25g coconut sugar and 25g oat flour )
85g ( ½ cup ) roasted peanuts
75g ( ½ cup packed ) coconut sugar, powdered
1 tsp vanilla powder or ½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt

40g ( ¼ cup ) cacao butter, melted
50g ( ¼ cup ) warm water – or as needed to bind mix

Method

• If you’ve bought raw, skinless peanuts, roast them yourself by heating your oven to 170c (340f) and set your timer for 4 minutes.

• Turn the peanuts every 4 minutes until they are golden brown.

• In the food processor, pulse the first set of ingredients until the peanuts are a rough crumb texture. We want some crunch and bite in the crust.

• Add the cacao butter and pulse to combine.

• Add the water a little at a time until the mix comes together, but does not ball in the machine.

• Line a springform tart tin with cling film, or use a silicone tart tin for easy release. I used a rectangular flan tin ( 36 x 12 cm or 14 x 4.5-inch ).

• With slightly dampened hands, press the crust into the base of the tin and bring it up the sides to form the tart shell. Re-dampen your hands to make it easy to spread the mix and keep it from sticking to your hands. Do not over wet your hands.
• Set in the freezer while you make the ganache and caramel.

Peanut Butter Ganache
220g ( 7.7 oz ) cacao paste ( or your favourite chocolate ), melted
80g ( ½ cup ) peanut butter
100g ( ⅓ cup ) maple syrup or honey
1 tsp vanilla powder or ½ tsp vanilla extract

220g ( scant 1 cup ) warm water

Method

• In a blender, combine the first set of ingredients on low-med speed.

• With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the warm water and watch it emulsify ( because it’s fun to watch )

• Transfer to a bowl and place to the side while you make the caramel.

Caramel
50g ( ¼ cup )  coconut oil, melted
35g ( 2 tbsp + 2 tsp ) cacao butter, melted
15g ( 1 tbsp  ) lucuma powder
15g ( 1 tbsp )  mesquite powder
35g ( ¼ cup ) xylitol
35g  ( ¼ cup ) coconut sugar

35g ( ¼ cup )  warm water

Method

• In a blender, combine the first set of ingredients on low-med speed.

• With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the warm water and watch it emulsify.

• Transfer to a squeeze bottle, piping bag or, if you don’t have either, just into a bowl.

Swirling the layers

Method

• Remove the tart crust from the freezer.

• Pour in the ganache to fill the shell ⅔ of the way.

• Using a piping bag, squeeze bottle or a spoon, drizzle the caramel around the top of the tart.

• Drag a toothpick or tip of a paring knife through the caramel to create swirls. Be sure to swirl right to the edge of the crust as well as into the centre of the tart.

• Carefully transfer the tart to the fridge or freezer to set – about 2-4 hours in the fridge and 1 hour in the freezer – this will depend on the depth of mould you use, the deeper it is the longer it takes to fully set through.

• Once set, cut the tart and serve with your favourite ice cream and some raspberry jam to cut the heaviness of the chocolate and caramel.

Raspberry Jam

200g ( 2 cup ) frozen raspberries, thawed
50g ( ⅓ cup ) coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla powder or ½ tsp extract

Method – cooked

• Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil and then immediately reduce to a low simmer.

• Allow to simmer and gently reduce until ⅔ of the liquid is gone.

• Pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.

• Bring to room temp before bottling it up and storing in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Method – raw

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and crush the berries into your hands to release their juices.

• Place the entire bowl in the dehydrator for 10-20 hours or until the liquid has reduced by ½.

• Pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.

• Bring to room temp before bottling it up and storing in the fridge for up to 2 months.