Chocolate-Caramel-Peanut Butter Tartlets

Really pretty for Valentine's day, but most importantly they're really tasty too. Surrounded with a chocolate heart shaped molded crust, these miniature tarts are filled with three different layers, that taste so good combined in your mouth!

At the bottom is a smooth and creamy peanut butter, over that is a homemade caramel-brandy sauce, poured over that is a shiny dark chocolate ganache, then they are decorated with fresh whipped cream and toasted ground peanuts.. sooo good.

Chocolate crust:

In a mixing bowl put:
1C all purpose flour
3T cocoa
3T sugar
1/4t salt
sift all these ingredients. Then add:
1 stick chilled butter, cut in to small pieces, then cut the butter in to the flour mixture with a pastry cutter, or with your hands until it looks like course meal. Then add 1 egg yolk, work in to a ball, if it is still too dry and won't stick add 2T water. Divide in to 12 balls (depending what mold you decide to use), grease the mold, and fill it with the crust, make sure it is 1/4" thick, no thicker if possible, since you want to be able to fit plenty of filling in. Chill for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 350F, fill the individual molds with raw beans, just to keep the inside from puffing up. After 10 minutes of baking remove them on to a sheet tray, since they will be hot.

 Continue baking the molds for about another 8 minutes. Cool fully and remove from the molds.

Caramel-brandy sauce:

In a medium saucepan put:

75g light corn syrup

150g sugar

1/4 vanilla bean, scraped out, then drop the shell in too.

Pour over this enough water to cover everything, make sure all the sugar is wet.

Place it on the stove on high heat. Cook until the sugar starts to brown a medium amber color, this will take about 8-10 minutes, turn the heat on low to not let it get too dark, or it will taste burnt.

Add 1C heavy cream slowly, it will bubble and steam a lot, let the heat dissolve the caramel and stir constantly.

When the amount of bubbles have gone down add 50g salted butter , stir, then add 1/8C brandy. Stir. Cool, but make sure it is pourable.

Chocolate Ganache:

In a saucepan add:

3/4C heavy cream

1/2T light corn syrup (for shine)

pinch of salt

5oz of semi sweet chocolate cut evenly

Stir on low heat constantly. When smooth turn off heat. Leave in the pot as it is being used.

Peanut butter filling:

Take 1/4C smooth peanut butter (natural)

add 2T heavy cream and whisk until smooth. You just want it softer and more malleable to fill the molds.

Now put about 1/2t in each mold and with the end of a spoon spread it on the bottom of the mold only.

Now add the caramel sauce, leaving enough room for the ganache on top. Before you add the ganache chill the molds in the freezer for 5 minutes, you don't want the caramel to mix with the chocolate.

Now pour about 1-2T over the chilled caramel until the molds are full. Chill again until set, it won't take long.

You should have three layers looking like this approximately:

Now whip some heavy cream, about 1/2C. add 1t powdered sugar, and 1/2t vanilla extract still medium-hard, pipe little rosettes on top of the tarts and decorate with ground toasted peanuts. Enjoy.