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!! 😂
My Inner Chick says
Gorgoeus, delectable pie.
Beautiful dog!
Can’t wait to make this. WOWWWW
Nagi says
YES make it make it make it! 🙂 N xx
Gwen says
You could make this in one of the oblong tart tins, then you could easily slice smaller pieces. Looks amazing! Going to make this soon. Thank you!
Nagi says
Gosh yes! Then it’s a Caramel Slice -> https://www.recipetineats.com/caramel-slice/
Bethany says
This tart looks completely delicious! Pinning!
Nagi says
And it TASTES even better! 🙂 N xx
Samantha Olivia says
Hi! Do you use normal condensed milk? Because where I live we have a different type of condensed milk that I think has been baked and almost looks like dulce de leche and it has a very intense caramel flavour but it’s not as liquid as the one you used or as light in colour.
Linda says
If you read the recipe at the end of the blog, it calls for sweetened condensed milk. Not sure it would ever set up if you used regular condensed milk. The blog should be corrected or the author should comment on the results using one or the other.
Nagi says
Hi Samantha! Yes normal condensed milk, it’s white 🙂 Have a look at the video and you’ll see the consistency and colour 🙂
Holly Painter says
I’ve just made this and there seemed to be far too much caramel (if that’s even possible) for the base. I’m in the UK so used the digestive base with less butter. There was so much left over caramel that I had to make another base for another tart!
Nagi says
Hi Holly! Sorry to hear you’re having problems (who ever thought we’d say that about too much caramel? 🙂 ) Did you use the right tart tin size? If so, there should be just enough caramel to fill the tart, like shown in the video. If you have so much that there’s enough for another tart it sounds like you use a much smaller tart tin – or perhaps a pie dish? 🙂 N xx
Lisa F says
OMGoodness, I failed this recipe in two different ways and it still turned out fantastic! #1,I didn’t have a tart tin, so I had to use a regular springform tin…My graham cracker crust didn’t make a lip, just the bottom crust. #2, I forgot to add the salt until a second after I had put it in the oven…i just kind of sprinkled and stirred with a fork very badly incorporating it into the mix. I took it out of the oven 15 mins later and it looked TERRIBLE. I kept on going hoping the ganache would cover my sins and it did. Wonderful recipe!!!! I made this yesterday, had one tiny slice because it is very rich, came home from work at noon today and my two teenage boys had eaten HALF…my hubby is the sweets baker in the house and they thought he had made it. That’s a high compliment! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Nagi says
YEE HA! I am SO PLEASED to hear that Lisa! Yes it is incredibly forgiving, I stuffed it up when I made the video and it was still fabulous! Can’t believe your boys ate half…… you have dental cover, right?? 😂
Sharon Favorite says
The recipe calls for condensed milk. Since you are already adding the brown sugar, I am assuming that I should not be adding sweetened condensed milk. Don’t know if just condensed milk is available where I live.
Nagi says
HI Sharon! Yes it is sweetened condensed milk, I will specify that. Yes there is sugar as well! It is sweet. Caramel is sweet! Though if I were to make this with only sugar, butter and cream for the filling, it would probably have more sugar in it than using sweetened condensed milk. 🙂
Ron says
Nagi – this will not help me reduce my bulging blogger belly at all! But what’s a few more grams to the waistline.
The tart looks wonderful and we’ll be giving it a cook on one of our splurge days.
From one food photographer to another, your images are especially great in this posting. I really like the first image, it makes me want to reach in and run my finger through the creamy tart.
Nagi says
Bulging Blogger Belly! 😂 I LOVE IT!!!!! N xx PS Thank you for the compliment on the photos!
Nina says
Ooh! This looks amazing – going to make it this weekend.
My daughter (who is not eating sugar at the moment) says this recipe is enough to bring her over to the dark (sugary) side :).
Nigella Lawson has a similar caramel in her millionaire’s shortbread recipe and it’s really good. (https://www.nigella.com/recipes/members/community-user-millionaires-shortbread)
Nagi says
Oh! It’s like a caramel slice!!! 🙂 N x
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Nagi, now I’m here in Australia, I know which caramel tart you mean! I’ve found it interesting seeing what sort of cakes you like here (and eaten far too many of them at the mothers’ groups! All I seem to do these days is eat cake…)
This tart of yours looks more amazing than the one I’ve seen though 🙂
P.s. Not stilted at all – honest and down-to-earth as usual!
Nagi says
Helen! I just saw your latest recipe – pudding huh? Missing “home”? 😂
Ann Kratofil says
By the way, I had to watch the video one more time and after it was over, I wanted to watch again. Your videos are food porn!!! And every recipe I’ve made from your site is fabulous.
Nagi says
THAT is high praise! 😂 N xx
Ann Kratofil says
Nagi, this tart is amazing!! One of the many reasons your blog is so successful is your next door neighbor manner. Your food/recipes always steal the show, and I never notice whose hands are slicing or dicing or pouring in your outstanding videos. We tend to forget how many “takes” it really requires to produce a blog posting, but speaking for many fans of yours, the folksy, friendly manner in which you present your creations is like being welcomed into your home. Whatever your decision to hire more help or not won’t take the personal touch out of your presentations because you are such an amazing, creative, hard working, friendly and loving person. ❤️❤️❤️And it always bubbles to the surface with each posting. And Dozer, he’s just the icing on the cake, or the ganache on the carmel tart. We are your fans, your friends and your extended family/neighbors . Just don’t quit!!
Nagi says
Aww thank you so much for the lovely message Ann! I’m so pleased you are enjoying my recipes. 🙂 It IS hard work, especially now that I’m doing videos for every recipe, but I truly love it. N xx
Pat says
Hi Nagi, Loving all your recipes, thank you
I am looking to purchase a new mini food processor for crushing bisc, nuts etc. In your experience with all that you do have you come up with one that does the job successfully?
Nagi says
Hi Pat! I have a CuisineArt one, it does the job just great! And it’s a good size too 🙂
Pat says
Thank you so much Nagi for your amazingly quick reply. Much appreciated.
Wynn says
PS: The personal touch is one of the things that makes your blog great. Oh, and you, and Dozer, and let’s not forget the terrific recipes, of course! But, there are only ever so many hours in a day, too, and a bit of kitchen help will not diminish your impact in the least! Time for reflection, and replenishing one’s energy is essential, and enhances creativity, also. As anyone in business knows, burn-out can be stealthy and creep up on people almost before they realize it. A clean-up person or assistant who can save you some precious time for yourself is something well worth considering!
Nagi says
Thank you Wynn! That’s exactly what I got, someone to help with clean up, measuring out ingredients etc for making recipe videos (honestly, video making has created so much extra washing up!). The great thing is that making the videos means extra recipe testing, and even better when it’s someone else making your recipe. Good checking process! N xx
Wynn says
That looks sensational! Truly food art! It would look great on a table for a holiday or special event!
Condensed milk is used in the US for making caramel confections, too, so I have seen it used in caramel recipes. I can remember years ago a recipe for punching a hole in the top of a condensed milk can and putting the can directly on a cooktop/stove for a long time to make a caramel sauce. I believe Dulce de Leche may have been the inspiration for that trick of cooking it in a can, perhaps.
But, I haven’t made many caramel desserts. The most recent may have been a caramel frosting for a cake a year or so ago.
Nagi says
Ohhhhhh! I do a Dulce de Leche cheat in the slow cooker using an unopened can, works SO WELL! N xx
Ani says
My French-Canadian mother-in-laws’s sugar pie recipe uses evaporated milk in the filling. Delish, but very sweet!
Nagi says
Evaporated milk for a pie filling! I must check that out! 🙂 N xx
Mary says
This is one luscious lovely tart. I shall make it when there are lots of people to share it with. 2!!!!! Tins of condensed milk OMG. 😳 😲
I love your postings, it’s just like having a friend visit. You do it all just right. And of course, the lovely Dozer.
Dawn says
DOUBLE DITTO FROM ME
Norman Haertel says
Hello Nagi,
How do you get to remove the Tart from the pan? Is that a 2 piece pan that you use?
Nagi says
Hi Norman! Yep, it’s a loose tart 🙂 There’s a description in the recipe and also you can see how the edge is removed in the video, slips right off 🙂 N xx
Eha says
Nagi – Please, please do not ‘grow’ into a studio atmosphere! We would not follow and read now unless we ‘found’ something which pleased us here! During the 5-6 years I have been following blogs, I have slowly grown away from many of those who grew and monetized and made something joyful and fun just a business venture! And some have been really lovely and competent people . . . just my way of looking at things . . . NOW, this is sinful . . . so perhaps ‘yes’ behind closed doors 🙂 !
Nagi says
I think you nailed it – exactly what my concerns are. I’ve been really torn about this for months and months and feel like I’m stuck in limbo land, trying to decide what my next step is! N xx
Naomi says
Nagi, I agree with Eha’s post about not growing into a studio atmosphere. Your blog is the only one that I ALWAYS look at and read. You have such a “down to earth” manner about you that makes you feel like a good friend. Of course, I understand if you feel the need to “grow” your business. Wished I lived on your side of the world. I would come help clean dishes for you…..as long as I got to taste too!
Nagi says
You would get sent home with MOUNDS of food if you were near Naomi! Thank you for the lovely message. To be honest, I’m really grappling with what my next move is. I want to keep doing this *forever* but I know I need to change things up and keep moving forward, otherwise I will get into a rut one of these days! N xx
Eha says
My sincere suggestion: do not think about this at all for at least three, preferably six months . . . then work any possible changes attractive to you out with your Mom, family and closest well-meaning friends. Just leave it till then: I can see no urgency . . . .
Nagi says
That’s a good idea Eha 🙂 No, there is no urgency at all! 🙂
Pat says
Hi Nagi. This looks fabulous. I’m looking forward to making it (and eating it!). Would you have to make it on the day that it is eaten; or can it be made a day ahead??
Nagi says
Hi Pat! Thanks so much for the reminder to put in make ahead instructions. It keeps so well – I kept a slice for over a week and it was still delicious, albeit the crust on the edge was a bit softer than when made fresh. But I bet most people wouldn’t even notice!