I'm currently sitting in front of the computer updating my website (June 2019) aaaannnnddd I'm getting really hungry looking at this photo - I love this combination of peanuts, vanilla, caramel, chocolate and pastry. It's a pity someone can't make me some :).

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.  

Ingredients

Pastry

250 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

65 g Icing sugar

~1/8 tsp Salt

125 g Butter (melted)

1 Egg yolk

10 g Vanilla bean paste

10 g Water

extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

 

Caramel

150 g Brown sugar (I used light muscovado)

300 g Thickened cream (I use a 300 ml bottle)

75 g Butter

20 g Glucose syrup#

100 g Salted peanuts

 

# Glucose syrup is needed to prevent crystallisation in the caramel. If you don't have glucose syrup you could add ~2 tsp of vinegar prior to boiling however it will change the flavour of the caramel a little. If you add vinegar boil the mixture for 5 mins. 

 

 Chocolate Ganache

120 g Thickened cream

 

Method

Pastry

Mix together the Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour, icing sugar & salt.

In another container melt the butter.

Add the water, egg yolk & vanilla bean paste to the melted butter. Stir to combine. Don't let this mixture cool.

Pour the melted butter mix over the combined dry ingredients & stir to combine.

It can be mixed by hand, fork or wooden spoon. Mechanical devices can over mix the dough very easily, it is best done by hand.

At this stage the dough will feel slightly greasy. Wrap the dough in plastic clingwrap or put it in a plastic bag & store in the fridge for approximately 1 hour. 

Cooling the dough is important - after cooling the butter is fully absorbed, flexibility is increased & the dough is easier to handle.

Bring the dough out of the fridge, it will be quite hard. 

Leave it on the bench while you make the caramel sauce.

Making the caramel

Put the sugar, cream, butter & glucose syrup into a saucepan. The saucepan needs to be large enough to contain the caramel when it is cooking - it will increase in volume ~3 x.

Heat the mixture gently (at first) to melt the butter. At this stage you can stir the mixture.

Turn the heat up when the butter has melted. Do not stir the mixture after it starts to boil.

Boil the mixture for 7 mins.

Remove from heat & do not stir the mixture.

Rolling out the dough 

Lightly dust a clean work surface (silicon mat, baking paper) with some of the extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour. 

Knead the pastry until it is soft enough to roll out.

To stop the pastry sticking to surfaces lightly dust them with some of the extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour.

Roll out the pastry to the required size. I use a non-stick tart pan (11.5 cm x 34.5 cm or 4 1/2 inch x 13 1/2 inch) with a removable base.

To ensure the dough is an even thickness follow this tip. Find 2 placemats (dinner setting - my placemats are ~4 mm thick) or two pieces of cardboard (2-3 mm thick) place one on either side of the dough. I have thrown away my cardboard pieces & now have stainless steel spacers 1 mm, 2 mm & 3 mm thick - they are much easier to clean. When rolling out the dough ensure the rolling pin is wide enough to span the dough and part of the top of the placemats/cardboard. My rolling pin is large – 61 cm from handle to handle. Initially when rolling the pin may not necessarily rest on the placemats/cardboard, however, when the dough is the same thickness as the placemats/cardboard it will. At this stage the dough should be all the same thickness.

Grease the flan/tart pan.

Lightly dust the rolling pin with some of the extra Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour to stop the dough from sticking. Transfer the dough to the pan using the rolling pin. To get the dough onto the rolling pin lift up the mat/paper & drape it over the rolling pin. If your flan/tart pan is a rectangle use the longest side of the dough to lift up on to the rolling pin. Peel off the mat/paper & move the rolling pin over the pan. Gently lay the dough into the pan. 

Gently push the dough into all corners & sides of the pan. If the dough breaks don't worry it is easy to patch. Trim the dough to slightly higher than the sides of the pan. 

Baking

Pour the caramel sauce onto the dough.

Sprinkle the salted peanuts on top of the caramel.

The caramel will expand when it is baked, it should 1/2 fill the dough case.  

Bake the tart for approximately 25 mins at 170 C. The actual baking time will depend on your oven.

Bring the tart out of the oven & allow it to cool completely before topping it with the chocolate ganache.

Chocolate ganache

How you make the ganache will depend on the chocolate used.

If the chocolate doesn't contain cocoa butter you can simply heat the cream to near boiling point & then melt the chocolate in it. Stir to melt the chocolate. 

Pour the molten ganache over the baked caramel & peanuts.

Allow the chocolate to set before serving.

If the chocolate contains cocoa butter a little more care is needed (but it tastes so good) when melting & setting the chocolate.  

Heat the cream to ~50 C. (Thermomix 50 C for 3 mins at sp 2).

Add 1/2 of the chocolate (I put in the milk chocolate first), gently stir the mixture & keep the temperature at ~50 C until all of the chocolate is melted. (Thermomix 50 C for 1 min at sp 2 or longer if the chocolate hasn't completely melted)

Add in the remaining chocolate & gently stir until it is melted. (Thermomix sp 1)

Pour over the baked caramel & peanuts. I don't scrap the bowl to get the last bits of the ganache out & put that on top of the tart. I scrap the bowl & put it on a saucer/plate for quality control - I find I need to test it everytime! So far every batch tastes yum! 

Set the chocolate in a cool place. A good temperature range to set the chocolate is 12 - 18 C.  

Can you be bothered to worry about temperatures when melting chocolate? There are differences in the sheen of the ganache & the texture of it. The chocolate ganache in the photo below was not treated with respect (the ganache in the photo at the top of this page was). I used a cheaper chocolate containing cocoa butter but I simply heated the cream to near boiling point & then melted the chocolate in that. It still tasted good but if I had taken a little more care it would have tasted better.