Madhouse recipe : McVitie's Caramel & Pecan Tart

In the run up to Christmas, McVitie's sent us a fabulous baking kit containing all the ingredients for making their Caramel & Pecan Tart. Things got a bit hectic so we've ony just had a chance to make it but it was well worth the wait !

I have to say, their version (above) looks much prettier than ours but our one still tasted great. I know it would have looked better if it had had longer to chill in the fridge but the kids were just too impatient to wait for it to set properly ! 

McVitie's Caramel & Pecan Tart

ingredients :

For the base

200g McVitie’s Digestives

75g butter

For the filling

150g butter

150g light muscovado sugar

200g condensed milk

100g plain chocolate

50g pecans, roughly chopped

1- Put the McVitie’s Digestives into a food processor until finely ground. (Or just crush them by hand with the end of a rolling pin or the back of a spoon - it's much more fun !)  Melt the butter in a pan and add the ground biscuits. Stir continuously.

2- Pour the biscuit mixture into a 20cm spring form tin and use the back of a spoon to press it down in the base and up the sides of the tin.

3- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes until set.

4- Meanwhile, make the filling. Put the butter and muscovado sugar in a saucepan over a gentle heat and stir until dissolved. 

Add the condensed milk and bring to the boil over a gentle heat, stirring continuously.

5- Stir for 2-3 minutes until you obtain a golden caramel. Pour into the biscuit base and chill for an hour in the fridge.

6- Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool and thicken up slightly. Spoon the chocolate into a piping bag or a freezer bag with one corner cut off, then quickly drizzle in zigzag lines over the tart. (Now, I started off drizzling and it looked pretty but there was so much leftover melted chocolate in the bowl and it seemed a shame to waste it so we ended up adding more and more until it covered the whole of the tart. No complaints in terms of taste, but if you want pretty, I'd reduce the amount of chocolate by half.)

Garnish the tart with chopped pecans and, if possible, refrigerate for one hour before serving.

"If possible" just about sums it up. I managed to chill it for 20 minutes by which time the kids were salivating and begging for dessert so ours was a bit too soft. It tasted lovely though !

Disclosure : We received a baking kit from McVitie's in order to try out the recipe.