If you love salted caramel and chocolate, this Salted Caramel Tart is your dream come true! The creamy caramel filling is made with condensed milk, a secret trick for making perfect soft-set caramel without using a candy thermometer. With a biscuit crust and luxurious chocolate ganache topping, it’s hard to believe you only need 6 ingredients to make this!
“OMG, that caramel tart!”, my friend exclaimed. “You’ve probably given my whole family diabetes, but OMG!!!!”
I grinned, gleefully. “I know, it’s INSANE, isn’t it?”
This is probably the most indulgent dessert I know how to make. It’s sinfully decadent. The caramel filling is truly incredible – it’s smooth, creamy, thick and so soft.
It’s made using a caramel base of butter plus sugar (for the caramel flavour) which is then combined with condensed milk. Once baked, it sets, almost like a soft custard. It’s different to the traditional method of making caramel fillings which require the caramel to come to a specific temperature at which point it will set to be a soft creamy caramel, rather than runny or hard. i.e. Candy thermometer required.
I have it in my head that this is the Australian way of making a creamy caramel. I’d love to know if anyone knows otherwise. I feel like it’s an undiscovered secret because I never seem to see caramel tarts/pies/bars/slices etc made using condensed milk.
This tart is made with a simple biscuit crust. That caramel was made for using as a glue to suction up all the loose crumbs when you inhale your slice!
This is how I press the crumbs into the tart tin – using something flat and round with straight walls. I’m using a measuring cup here. Use it to press the crumbs into the wall and a knife or your finger to level out the top of the crust, and to level out the base of the tart.
As for the topping – what else could it be other than a chocolate ganache? 🙂 This ganache has a slightly different chocolate to cream ratio than traditional ganache recipes (which are usually 1:1) so the chocolate is soft but cuttable without smearing so you get nice neat tart slices.
Many readers have jokingly noted how my very recognisable hands have been absent in videos recently. Shooting videos by yourself is seriously hard work when you have a simple home set up like I do. I’ve been thinking about getting a studio, setting things up “properly”. A permanent video shoot area with studio lights, a kitchen, getting a permanent support team and making my life a little – ALOT – easier.
But for me, one of the things I love about my blog is how personal it is. Everything that you see is made in my pokey kitchen, the recipes are my own, created by me, tested by me, taste tested by family and friends. The larger a team gets, the less personal this website will become. Does anyone here seriously think that Martha Stewart creates every recipe that ends up on her website, her magazines, cookbooks and TV shows?
I enjoy making my own videos, shooting them, editing them. In a bid to make my life slightly easier, I get my mother or a helper to come in once a week to help with food prep, double/triple/quadruple test recipes, and most importantly in my world, help with the washing up.
And because everybody has nicer hands than me, I can never resist calling on my help to be my video hand model. 😂 Plus the incredible convenience of not having to wipe my hands and dash around to check the camera with every single micro step in every video! For a recipe like this, if I shot it myself, I would have to do that about 40 times – at least.
I feel like this post is a little all over the place and a bit stilted.
I’ll be honest. I’m a bit tarted out. I’m really trying to drum up the enthusiasm for what is possibly the most raved about dessert ever by my taste testers – and that includes the homeless man at the dog park.
But I’ve made this seven times in a week and half!! Testing + a couple of video fails.
As I said, I’m tarted out!!
My friends are not. I definitely did not run out of willing taste testers to even take the ones I wasn’t 100% happy with. 🙂
To be clear, Dozer was not one of those taste testers. No chocolate for dogs!! – Nagi xx
For Caramel Monsters
-
Caramel Slice (aka Millionaire’s Shortbread!) – the great Aussie favourite!
-
Peanut Butter Caramel Tart – dangerously easy
-
Sweetened Condensed Milk Caramel – just place a can of condensed milk in the slow cooker!
More slices and bars
-
Strawberry Bars – made with tons of fresh strawberries!
-
Easiest Ever Raspberries Jam Bars
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Salted Caramel Tart
Ingredients
Base:
- 225 g / 8 oz plain sweet biscuits, about 2 cups (packed) crushed (Arnott’s Marie Crackers, Graham Crackers, Note 1 for Digestives)
- 150 g / 5 oz unsalted butter , melted (Note 1 for Digestives)
Caramel:
- 100 g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup / 200g (packed) brown sugar
- 2 cans sweetened condensed milk (395g / 14oz each)
- 1 3/4 tsp salt (2 ½ - 3 tsp salt flakes)
Chocolate Ganache Topping:
- 1/3 cup heavy/thickened cream
- 150 g / 5 oz dark chocolate melts / chips
- Sea salt flakes, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C/320F. Grease and line the base only of a 23cm / 9" tart tin with a loose base. (Or a springform pan of a similar size)
- Roughly break up biscuits and place in a food processor, then whizz until fine crumbs form. Or do this step with a ziplock bag and rolling pin.
- Pour crumbs into a bowl, add melted butter, mix until it looks like wet sand and no dry crumbs remain. Pour into tin, then press firmly into base and sides – use something flat like a cup to assist (refer to video).
- Transfer to tray (safe handling), place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and cool slightly (5 minutes in fridge).
Caramel:
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and whisk to combine – butter may not incorporate fully.
- Once it starts bubbling and the sugar is completely melted, pour in the condensed milk, whisking as you go. Whisk constantly until you see steam coming off the caramel (~ 4 minutes), then remove from heat.
- Add salt (adjust to taste), then pour the caramel into the tart base.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges of the caramel surface is golden and the surface has a “skin” on it, but the caramel is still soft and the centre jiggles slightly (see video for demo.)
- Cool on counter while you make the chocolate.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Place cream and chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Microwave in 2 x 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth.
- Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken slightly, then pour over the base. Smooth top or make swirls like I did (just wait until the chocolate thickens slightly). Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
- Refrigerate for 1 ½ hours to allow chocolate to set. Then remove and bring to room temperature before slicing to serve. Handle carefully when sliding the tart off the base - or just leave it on to be safe and just remove the sides.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Salted Caramel Tart recipe video. So you can see how soft that caramel is and don’t miss the Dozer cameo at the end!!
LIFE OF DOZER
Checking himself out while I was making the recipe video!! 😂
Farrel says
i made this last night and we were very pleased with the result. The only issue I had was I never got the caramel to “steam”, even after cooking it for six minutes. So I went ahead and put it in the crust, anyway, and continued on with the recipe. I used two 8 oz. packages of Scottish short bread for the crust. Very good dessert; easy yet elegant.
Nagi says
Great to hear Farrel! Thank you very much for leaving a review – N x ❤️
Elena Naumova says
Hello i liked your recipe very much. Can you tell me if the heavy/ thickened cream is with sugar or without and also is it milk heavy cream or vegetable heavy cream?
Thankyou
Waiting for your reply
Nagi says
Hi Elena! It’s cow dairy and it is sugarless 🙂
SilverColibri says
Lovely tart! made it and shared it! the taste is insane! My caramel was a bit darker maybe due to the brown sugar available here in Sweden. I was wondering what kind of brown sugar did you use to get the light color of the caramel?
Nagi says
That’s so wonderful to hear!! Thanks for letting me know – N x ❤️
silvercolibri says
😘what kind brown sugar did you use? Xoxo
Nagi says
Hi!! I use light brown or standard brown (here in Australia, we only have light and standard (no dark), can’t tell the difference in this recipe) 🙂 N x
Annellen says
Hi Nagi, just letting you know we do have dark brown sugar here in Australia- CSR make one and is available at Coles/Woolies. I have just made this tart (still cooling) and mine is also a darker colour. Had to cook it for 20 minutes but otherwise looks the same at this stage.
Nagi says
Thanks Annellen! I use standard brown in this one 🙂 N x
Trudy says
I have made your shortbread and it is such a hit with friends and family i cant make it quick enough 😃 i am now going to have a go at this tart as salted caramel is my favorite , keep the recipies coming i love your simple way of cooking x
Nagi says
I hope you love this!!
Fiona Felice says
I made this slice of heaven cake for a dinner party and it was a huge hit! The recipe was ‘spot on’ and happily, I had no surprises….my new go-to perfect tart, thank you!
Nagi says
That’s terrific to hear Fiona! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review – N x
joe monroe says
Hellooo Nagi, well I made a batch of these as cup cake sized for the nurses…OH MY GOD..they totally loved them, got more kisses and hugs ever. Great pick me up after hurricane Irma. Just a tad jealous, my home made eclairs used to be the favorites. thanks again and follow up to initial question, these were much better than starbu##’s
Nagi says
HIGH FIVE JOE!!!
Brittany says
Just to confirm, the nutrition facts are for 1/14 slices or for the whole cake?
Nagi says
Yep that’s right! 🙂
Holly Kraft says
I also had the same problem. I used 5 oz of butter which equals 10 tablespoons. Way too much butter! I even added more crackers, but still too buttery. Should it be 5 tbls and not 5 oz?
Then my caramel was too soft after the 15 minutes. I ended up cooking for another 15 minutes to get the skin to form on the top. Every oven is different, so I just watched for the skin to form. In the end it was delicious! I’ll try making it again with 5 tablespoons of butter for the crust and see what happens… Thanks for the recipe!
Nagi says
Hi Holly, I’m so glad this worked out for you! Yes, ovens can be so different, it sounds like yours runs a little cool so I’m really pleased you watched for the skin. The crust concerns me though – can I ask what crackers you used and how you measured it? 🙂 I just want to be able to add notes for other people and I know the type of crackers used can affect the crust. 🙂 N x
Lynda Elkind says
I have learned from my daughter who lived in Sydney for years that an Australian tablespoon is different from America’s. If you are making this in US be aware.
Nagi says
Hi Lynda! That is correct, and in recipes where there is rising and also for cookies it can affect the recipe which is why when it does matter, I provide measurements in both 🙂 This recipe is not affected, as part of my recipe testing, I test my baked goods using US and Australia tsp, tbsp and cups 🙂 N x
Presh says
It’s an African secret 🙂 the condensed milk to make caramels. We call them milk candy over in west Africa & very simple to make! 💙
Nagi says
Aussies and Africans! We know the secret to great caramel!!
Maheen says
Hi – when I bake the caramel in the base, it starts bubbling and rising and goes over the edge of the tart. What am I doing wrong?
Nagi says
Hi Maheen, did you use the right tart tin size??
P says
Hi made the tart a few days back. I felt the butter was too much, when pressing the crumbs it was extremely wet. And after baking the condensed milk mixture and cooling etc, the center was very runny on serving. Not sure what I id wrong. The taste was fantastic tho!
Nagi says
Hi P! What type of crumbs did you use? Definitely should not feel extremely wet, as you can see in the video the crumbs are dry 🙂 You didn’t mix up the butter for the filling, did you? 🙁 N x
Pauline says
OMG – beyond awesome and super easy too. I’ve made it for the school fete and I can’t bear to let it go. I’ve only been able to taste it as separate components, but I can tell by the taste and the way it looks that it’s beyond good.
Time to make a second one!
Thank you for such a beautiful, easy, impressive dessert.
Nagi says
I’m so happy to hear that Pauline! Thanks for sharing your feedback – N x ❤️
Sai says
I made this yesterday and it’s so delicious and super easy! Thank you! If I wanted to make a 30cm version, what would you recommend? To double the ingredients? Or do one and a half times ?
Nagi says
So glad you loved this Sai! I would increase the ingredients by 50%, hover your cursor over the Servings and slide it from 12 to 18, then the ingredients will change for you 🙂 You may have a bit too much caramel, but just store the excess in the fridge and use it for ice cream etc! 🙂 N x
Sai says
Thank you for that tip!
Laura says
When I got it out the oven it was sooooo wobbly with a film on top. Is this right?
Nagi says
YES! PERFECT!!!
joe monroe says
bonjour, a few years ago, a popular coffee chain had a very similar version but single serving. I loved them, how much if any changes would I need to make for single serving tart. I am a firefighter paramedic and want to make them for the ER nurses, thank you.
Nagi says
Hi Joe, that’s so sweet you want to make it for the nurses! Do you mean you want to use the whole recipe but make smaller ones? If so, just use individual tart tins! N xx
Cheryl says
Made this on the weekend for my sons 18th (he chose it after I showed him the pics 😊) It worked like a dream.
Consistency was fantastic, easy to cut, looked amazing and most importantly tasted amazing!!! Thank you for your fantastic recipes Nagi.
Nagi says
That’s terrific to hear Cheryl, thanks for leaving a review! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your son! N x
Brenda says
I baked for 15 mins in a 320F oven and it was soup. Was my conversion to F incorrect?
Nagi says
Hi Brenda, I’m sorry to hear that, did you use SWEETENED condensed milk per the recipe??
Brenda says
Yes it was sweetened condensed milk. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen non-sweetened.
Thanks
Nagi says
I’m thoroughly puzzled Brenda, it should definitely NOT be liquid, it’s thick straight out of the can??!!!
Audrey says
Condensed milk, like Eagle Brand…. not to be confused with Evaporated milk….
Nagi says
YES that’s right 🙂 N x
Patricia says
no, you converted it right .. here’s my go-to converter page for the next time… http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm
Brenda says
Well I ended up having to bake it for over 1/2 hour before it wasn’t soup. I was concerned that the crust would burn. Other than it being very gluey and difficult to pry out of the pan it was tasty.
Nagi says
Hi Brenda, did you used condensed milk instead of SWEETENED condensed milk??? N xx
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
I keep seeing this on Facebook, and I think I’m going to have to break down and make it. It’s got two of my favorites (chocolate and caramel). Plus, it just looks absolutely yummy!! Can’t wait to give it a try. By the way, Dozer is such a sweet dog. 🙂
Nagi says
YES give in! It’s calling your name! 🙂 N x
My Inner Chick says
Nagi,
I’m making this today!
Also, I LOVE the dog!
I’ll let you know how it turns out!
k.
Wendy says
Hello
Just a stupid question… How do you get tart out of tart tin…?
Nagi says
Hi Wendy! If you use a loose bottom one like I do, then the sides slip right off! 🙂 N x