salted carmel tart from recipetineats.com

Base:
      •  8 oz  Graham Crackers, 
      • 150 g / 5 oz unsalted butter , melted 
    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
    1. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. Transfer to tray (safe handling), place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, then remove and cool slightly (5 minutes in fridge).
    Caramel:
    1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and whisk to combine – butter may not incorporate fully.

    2. 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.

    3. Add salt (adjust to taste), then pour the caramel into the tart base.
    4. 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.)
    5. Cool on counter while you make the chocolate.
    Chocolate Ganache:
    1. Place cream and chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Microwave in 2 x 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth.
    2. 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.
    3. 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

    1. You need about 2 cups once crushed. No need to be exact here, the crumb crust is fairly forgiving so just eyeball the weight based on the whole biscuit packet weight.

    Another biscuit that is terrific to use for a biscuit crust is Digestives which is very popular in the UK/Europe and also quite popular here in Australia. If you use Digestives, reduce the butter to 75g because they are more buttery than Marie Crackers and Graham Crackers.

    Other biscuits: Basically any plain biscuit works great like Arnott’s Arrowroot works great, and even flavoured ones like Gingernut. The dense sticky filling of this tart makes the crumb crust quite strong so it’s fairly forgiving re: biscuit and butter quantities.

    2. STORAGE – This tart keeps SO WELL! It will keep in an airtight container for a week and still taste like it was made yesterday albeit the crust on the edge does soften a bit, but most people wouldn’t even notice (I don’t think). If it’s super hot where you are i.e. the chocolate becomes melty, keep it in the fridge but always bring to room temperature before serving otherwise the caramel won’t be creamy. It also freezes great – again, bring to room temp before serving. I’ve only frozen it for a couple of weeks but see no reason why it wouldn’t keep for sever

    al months.

    3. This is a VERY rich tart. I find that when cut into 12 (so quarters, then each quarter into 3), a slice is too much for me. So I have said that this serves 14 to 16. The nutrition is for 14 servings.

blueberry cheesecake jars from www.chindeep.com/

cheesecakejars

They’re easy to put together, cute, and they travel well too. If blueberries aren’t your thing, you can easily substitute cherries, lemon, chocolate pudding, or peaches for the blueberries. Just make sure you’re using ready-to-go pie filling, and not just canned fruit, or your cheesecakes will get soggy.

for the graham cracker crust layer:
1 heaping cup of graham cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine all of the graham cracker crust ingredients and “tamp” about 3 Tablespoons into each of 6 half-pint canning jars.

for the cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest

Place all of the cheesecake ingredients in the bowl of a counter top mixer. Whip until smooth and fluffy. Divide evenly among the 6  (half pint) jars… on top of the graham cracker crust layer.

for the blueberry layer:

TIP: a little almond extract will make canned pie filling taste fresh and wonderful!
1 (20 oz.) can blueberry pie filling
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Mix fruit filling with extract and divide evenly among the 6 jars. Place lids on jars an refrigerate until ready to eat.

Add a dollop of whipped cream to the tops of the jars and sprinkle with a little nutmeg if desired. ~ serves 6 ~