Salt is the magic ingredient that enhances the taste of almost everything. Without salt most foods will seem bland or uninteresting. In the days of antiquity Roman legionaries received their salaries in salt. The term salary (pay) comes from the Latin word sal or salt. Salt was used for preserving fish and meats, and enhancing the flavours of everything from bread, proteins and sweets, and as such was one of the most valued and traded commodities in antiquity.
Almost everyone loves caramel, made from heated sugar. By itself it can be too much and burnt it becomes bitter; but encasing apples on a stick, in ice cream or infused into chocolate, it is that sweet sticky substance of which fantasies are made.
Adding salt to sweet foods, in particular biscuits and chocolate, has become trendy in recent times.
Either make or buy a sweet short-crust pastry and pre-bake. Make smaller tarts rather than one big one, as the chocolate ganache filling is luxuriously soft.
Salty caramel
Ingredients:
- 260 g sugar
- 60 g water
- 240 ml cream
- 100 g butter
- A good pinch of salt
Method:
Add water to sugar in a small pot and heat slowly to at least 120°C. Once you have the desired colour, remove from the stove. At the same time heat the cream slowly and bring it to a boil. Add the boiling cream to the caramel, return to the stove and bring it to 103°C. Remove from the heat, mix in the butter and then the salt. Pour into the pre-baked tart shells to 2 mm thickness and set aside.
Chocolate ganache
Ingredients:
- 100 g sugar
- 100 g glucose
- 100 g butter
- 100 g cream
- 250 g chocolate, 54%
Method:
Put everything but the chocolate into a pot. Heat the contents to a point just before boiling and add all the chocolate. Remove from the stove. Using a small stick blender, mix the contents and ensure the chocolate has completely melted. Pour while still hot onto the caramel in the base of the tart shells. Fill the shells until 3 mm from the top. Place on a tray and into the freezer to set.
Remove from the freezer one hour before serving.
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