Happy Hanukkah! Tonight is the eighth and final (crazy) night of Hanukkah 2014. I made this Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart to stand in place of the more traditional Hanukkah gold coin chocolate gelt. It's true, I'm not Jewish. But I feel happy to send you this greeting no matter your religious associations. Because around my house we like to say I am Jewish adjacent, that's because my partner is Sephardic.
Like all holidays Hanukkah has its traditions and expectations. Which we happily meld into our other religious and non-religious holiday activities.
I've grown to love the lighting of the menorah each year, and at my age a well-placed yarmulke could be a good thing. However, I have trouble getting excited about Hanukkah gelt. These foil-wrapped chocolate candies usually come in plastic-mesh bags and jangle joyously at the end of the checkout aisle. So despite my misgivings, I almost always buy them on impulse. Partly because I'm usually staring at that box of candy canes I've begrudgingly thrown in my cart moments earlier. The truth is, like candy canes at Christmas, golden gelt is one of those Hanukkah traditions that have become expectations. Still, I have to admit I think these little candies taste more like leftover wax scraped out of the menorah, than any kind of chocolate I'd bother to eat.
Which means at my house the Hanukkah gelt usually remains wrapped in its gold foil, sitting on the holiday table long after the eight days are done. It seems silly to spend good gelt on gelt that can't be enjoyed.
Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart
Well this year I've decided to tackle the tradition of gelt in the form of a Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart. I probably should have made this a round tart. A round Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart looks a lot more like a coin than the rectangular tart you see in the photo to the right. Well if this new kind of gelt catches on in my house maybe next year I'll make a round gelt Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart. It could become my nod to the past, with both feet in the present. GREG
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