Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart

This Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart has a flaky shortcrust pastry, a velvety smooth salted caramel, and a pistachio and white chocolate ganache.

Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart

If you’re a fan of salted caramel and pistachio, then you’re most definitely on the right recipe. This tart is perfect for a show stopping dessert to show off a few of your skills. As well as delivering flavour and texture at the same time.

I’ve broken each step and technique down to make this pistachio tart approachable and doable for all skill sets. After all the love for my Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart I have no doubt you guys will ace this one, too!

This Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart has 3 epic layers

Buttery Shortcrust Pastry

The base is a classic buttery pastry that’s made with only 5 ingredients (including water and salt). It’s easy to make and even easier to work with. It makes for an incredibly buttery, flaky, and light pastry that works perfectly with the rest of the tart.

Velvety Smooth Salted Caramel

This is one of the smoothest salted caramels you’ll make. It starts with a deep amber caramel for a more bitter and complex flavour that works brilliantly with the nuts. We then add in cream and butter, with a finishing note of vanilla and sea salt.

I use a higher cream to sugar ratio which allows for a richer caramel with a fudge-like consistency (due to the higher fat proportion), and an overall lower sweetness.

Pistachio and White Chocolate Ganache

The final layer is a nutty and rich pistachio and white chocolate ganache. This screams pistachio in every bite, and it’s all down to the vibrantly green pistachio butter. I make my own using a food processor but you can absolutely buy the pistachio butter pre-made.

We’re making the pistachio and white chocolate ganache from scratch

We’re making this with a combination of smooth pistachio butter, white chocolate, and cream. I make my own pistachio butter, which is easily doable with a decent food processor and some time on your hands (about 30-40 minutes). However you can buy this pre-made if you want to!

The pistachio butter adds a huge hit of pistachio flavour without needing any extra extracts or essences. Which I often find tend to have a more artificial pistachio flavour, so I avoid using them if I’m honest.

The white chocolate adds the perfect amount of sweetness and really complements the nutty and earthy pistachios. We’re also adding in a little bit of vanilla and sea salt for balance and complexity.

This Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart is slightly technical, but don’t worry!

From making pastry, to making a caramel, or making a ganache. These skills can sometimes seem rather daunting or complicated, as I’ve often been told by readers.

So I’ve broken each step down to simplify it as much as possible. I’ve also included a whole bunch of extra detail, plus extra tips, step by step photos, and a video to guide you all the way through!

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Plain flour – this is also known as all purpose flour
• Butter – it is essential to use a block butter here and not a spread
• Double cream – this is a cream with a 48% fat percentage. Heavy cream in the US tends to be around 36% fat, which will work but with a very slightly adjusted method (included in the recipe)
• White chocolate – use a good quality bar of white chocolate to ensure you’re able to get a smooth emulsion for the ganache
• Smooth pistachio butter – I make this myself with my food processor and some pistachios. You can also purchase this pre-made if you wish. It must be 100% pistachio with no added cream/milk/sweetener

The KEY tips for making this Pistachio Tart

1. The pastry may not need all the water – you want to use just enough water for the pastry to bind together. The more water you use, the more the gluten will develop
2. Work the pastry as little as possible – there is no need to knead the pastry dough. The more you work the pastry, the more it will shrink during and after baking
3. Chilling the pastry reduces shrinkage – chilling relaxes the gluten which prevents excessive shrinkage
4. The pastry weights need to come right to the top – when blind baking, add the pastry weights all the way to the top of the pastry to minimise shrinkage
5. Take the caramel to a deep amber – a darker caramel works better when paired with nuts. This is the colour before the sugar starts to burn. However if you feel unsure about this, feel free to leave the caramel lighter
6. An immersion/stick blender will improve texture – this will improve the emulsion and produce a velvety smooth texture for both the caramel and the ganache

How to make this Pistachio Salted Caramel Tart

Let’s start with the pastry

Start by blitzing the flour, sugar, salt, and semi-frozen butter in a food processor until you’re left with small chunks of butter running throughout

Then, add in the ice cold water and blitz again. It will look dry and crumbly but should hold together when pressed

Don’t knead, simply grab the crumbs and push together. Light press down to form a rough disc

On a floured surface, lightly roll to form into an even disc and then cover with baking paper or clingwrap. Place the dough into the fridge for at least 3 hours

Once chilled, roll the dough out on a floured surface until it’s 2 inches larger than the tart tin. When rolling, roll in one direction (e.g. towards yourself) from the half way point. Give the pastry dough a quarter turn and repeat. Keep repeating this motion as rolling back and forth can overwork the gluten

Roll the pastry sheet up around the rolling pin and then unroll over the tart tin

Lift the edges to gently seat the dough around the tin. Don’t pull or stretch the dough as this will lead to shrinkage when baking. Lightly press the dough into the sides, then trim off the excess by rolling the rolling pin over the tin

Remove the excess pastry and dock the base all over with a fork. Place into the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes

Cover the chilled pastry case with baking paper and fill it with baking beans/dried beans all the way to the top

Remove the paper and beans 3/4 of the way through the bake. And finally, allow the tart shell to continue baking until lightly browned

Next, the salted caramel

Start by melting the sugar in three increments. As soon as the first increment starts to caramelise, add in the second, and then the third. Continue to cook the caramel until it reaches a dark amber

Next, pour in the hot cream and butter. The caramel can bubble up so be careful here. Pour the cream in very slowly

Continue to simmer the caramel for 5 minutes, then bring up to 113’C/235’F. I highly advise using a thermometer here for accuracy

If you don’t have a thermometer, keep a plate chilled in the freezer. Place a few drops of caramel on to the cold plate and pop back into the freezer for 60 seconds. It should be slightly firm to the touch. If not, continue to cook the caramel and try again in another 2 minutes

Finish the caramel with vanilla and flaky sea salt, then allow to cool. Once cooled, pour into the cooled tart pastry and then refrigerate until completely set

Now, to make the pistachio ganache

Melt the white chocolate in a tall jug and once melted, add the pistachio butter. At the same time, warm the cream and vanilla

Once the cream has just started to steam, pour it over the pistachio butter and white chocolate. Use an immersion blender to blend this until smooth and creamy

Pour the pistachio ganache over the set caramel layer and tilt the tin to level out. Set this into the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up slightly

Finish the pistachio and caramel tart with crushed pistachios and flaky sea salt. Lightly pat these down, which will secure them in place as the ganache has not completely set. Place back into the fridge for another 2 hours or until set

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use shop bought pistachio butter?

Yes, just make sure it’s 100% pistachio with no added oil, sugar, or cream. If you feel like making your own, you just need a decent food processor, pistachios, and about 30-40 minutes.

If you enjoyed this recipe

Please do let me know! Leave a review and a rating below, I’d love to know how you got on.

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Until then, happy baking!