Salted Peanut Caramel Tart

 This salted peanut and caramel tart was fun to make if you don’ t mind a bunch of moving parts, which I don’t. It’s a layer of crust, then meringue, and finally topping, all with timing you’ll need to pay attention to. The base is easy because it is pressed into the tin rather than rolled out (I used a small glass to get it smooth), but the topping needs to be used within seconds. It’s a Milk Street recipe; mine is in a cookbook, but the recipe is available online: https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/salted-peanut-caramel-tart.

I’m guessing it could be made gluten-free, but dairy-free would be difficult as the recipe calls for whipping cream and butter.

This isn’t a last-minute dessert. The crust is chilled for at least fifteen minutes, then baked for an hour, then cooled. The whipped egg whites and hot syrup for the meringue need to be ready concurrently, with the melted peanut butter soon after. The peanut topping will harden almost as soon as it’s off the heat, so it has to be spread pronto.

   Chopped peanuts  & meringue with peanut butter and syrup.

Changes I made:

The size of the tart pan matters! The recipe calls for a nine-inch pan and I only had an eleven-inch, so used that. While normally that might not matter, it made some minor differences here. The dough was thinner because it had to stretch further, so it baked a little too long and the peanut topping wasn’t enough to cover the whole thing. I’d consider doubling the topping to get a really nice layer.

As for future changes, one might substitute chocolate liqueur for the vanilla or maybe even rum. I don’t know if almond butter and almond topping might be possible, but if a peanut allergy is a worry, you could give it a try. The crust has some regular flour, but I would think gluten-free flour mix could be used instead.

And, not unusual for me, I forgot to sprinkle the salt before serving. I can’t say I missed it, though.

                    Finished baked tart  & dough pressed into pan                                      

Review:

·         Were the ingredients easy to find? Most people don’t have salt flakes and almond flour on hand, but they aren’t hard to find. The recipe specifies non-natural smooth peanut butter—nothing where the oil separates and I had to make a trip to the store for that. You will need a thermometer for the syrup. If you don’t have a digital food thermometer, it’s a worthy purchase.

·         Were the directions easy to follow? They were clear but read through first to get a sense of timing.

·         Did it come out as expected? I haven’t had many desserts like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleased with the results.

·         How did it taste? This might be a love-meh relationship. It was a little too sweet for me (gasp!), but the other adult in the house swooned over it. The peanut butter taste is evident.

·         Will I make it again? Maybe, but not soon. It seems like a dessert older kids might like because of the peanut butter taste (no peanuts for the toddlers), but it is a fair amount of work.