Photo: www.kevinandamanda.com

I love the inspiration to be found surfing online food blogs.
What I love a whole lot less, however, is the fact that internet recipes rarely live up to expectations, and I invariably find that the ingredient quantities or method are inaccurate.
What a waste of time, money and effort!
I usually abandon a recipe after a first time failure, but when I came across this luscious Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Tart, I was determined not to let a less-than-stellar result stand in my way.
Instead, I tweaked ingredients, and repeatedly revised the cooking method, until I felt it was 100% perfect.
(I bet you're really pitying me having to test all my different versions.)
How very happy I am that I put this promising dish through its paces, so that you don't have to, and can enjoy chocolate caramel perfection from the outset.
Shavuot, birthdays and other celebratory occasions just got a whole lot more decadent.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL OREO TART 

CRUST
2 boxes Oreos/imitation Oreos 
70 grams butter, melted

CARAMEL
100 grams butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Maldon salt/sea salt

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
250 grams dark chocolate, broken

1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup cold milk
Maldon salt/sea salt

METHOD

1: Crush the Oreos in a food processor - including the cream filling - and mix with butter, then press into a 24 cm pie dish and place in freezer while you prepare caramel.

2: Melt butter in a small pot, then add sugar and stir till completely dissolved.
3: Add cream and whisk till it comes to the boil, then turn down heat to low and continue cooking for 6 minutes, stirring very frequently.
4: Whisk in vanilla and a generous pinch of salt - I love Maldon crystals - and allow to cool for 10 minutes before pouring into pie crust.
5: Place in freezer for 1/2 hour to set caramel.
6: Heat cream and stir in chocolate till melted then allow to cool slightly before stirring in cold milk.
7: Pour on top of caramel, and allow to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, or hurry it up in the freezer.
8: Serve with Maldon sprinkled on top.

MY NOTES: The salted caramel sauce would be great on ice-cream. If you haven't bought Maldon before, you are going to love these delicate salt crystals which are nothing like over-salty kosher salt grains, and will never want to go back to regular salt again.

Creative cook and foodie fan Lisa Brink takes pleasure in sharing her shortcuts to culinary success. She is the marketing and recipe consultant at Meatland in Raanana.