As we tick down our advent calendars, we're getting more and more ready for parties, presents, eggnog and holiday music. And to help us get even more in the Christmas spirit, Livy Jeanne is here to play a holiday edition of 5 Quick Questions.
And, if want an extra kick of Christmas, hit play on Livy's rendition of Santa Baby!
Many thanks to Livy for playing...
In the words of Miss Livy Jeanne -> "HERE WE GOOOOOO!!!"
5 Quick Holiday Questions with Livy Jeanne
Q) Did you have a favourite Christmas songs when you were a kid?
Livy) My favourite xmas song when i was little was probably Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Q) Do you have a favourite Christmas song to play?
Livy) I really love the Cee Lo Green song What Christmas Means To Me.
Q) If you could partner up with any artist for a collaboration on a Christmas song, who would you choose?
Livy) If i could pick an artist to do a Christmas collab with it would probably be Michael Buble! He is literally the king of Christmas!
Q) What is your favourite beverage for a holiday party?
Livy) Eggnog. HANDS DOWN
Q) If you could only have 1 dessert after Christmas dinner, what would you choose?
Livy) Butter tarts!
And since Livy loves butter tarts, and we love butter tarts, we thought we'd share a sweet butter tart recipe with all of you!
Enjoy!
The Best Classic Canadian Butter Tarts
Ingredients: Pastry2 ¼ cups flour pastry flour is best to use but all-purpose will do
1 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening Very cold and cut in cubes
1/2 cup butter Very cold and cut in cubes
6 tbsp ice water approximately, enough to bring the dough together
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
½ cup raisins substituting, pecans, walnuts or chocolate chips also make good variations
1) Pulse the cold butter and shortening into the flour sugar and salt using a food processor until the shortening or butter is reduced to pea sized pieces.
2) Sprinkle the water over the surface and toss with a fork until the water is just incorporated into the dough. Do not overwork the dough; handle it only enough so that the dough stays together.
3) Form the dough into two rounds about an inch thick.
4) Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for about a half hour.
5) Roll out on lightly floured surface. Cut into rounds with 4 inch cutter. Fit into muffin cups. Chill in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling. Cold pastry heading into a hot oven will always be flakier.
1) Combine all filling ingredients except raisins.
2) Mix well.
3) Sprinkle raisins in a single layer in the bottom of the pastry lined muffin cups.
4) Fill 2/3 full with syrup mixture.
5) Bake on bottom shelf of oven at 425 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes.
6) Cool completely on a wire rack and remove tarts from from pans.
There is considerable debate about whether the filling in a butter tart should be runny or firm. Preferences vary, especially geographically but if you want a firmer, less runny filling simply add an additional egg, increase the brown sugar to 3/4 cup and decrease the corn syrup to 1/4 cup.
Recipe via rockrecipes.com
