One last Canadian inspired recipe before we get into the full festive flow!
Butter Tarts are apparently a popular baked treat in Canada, but seemed to have passed me by. Until our trip to Toronto last month that is.
One day, cousin Lawrence took us over to the home of a friend of his, Janice, whom he worked with in the past and has kept in touch with.
Janice, originally from England, was keen to meet us and have us over for a spot of lunch one day. It was a gorgeous day when we ventured over to Janice’s home and we had lunch in the garden.
It was a lovely spread of breads, cheeses, quiche, cold meats, salad and lots more. All washed down with copious amounts of gin, which we hadn’t had elsewhere in Canada. It’s not a ‘thing’ there – yet – like it has become so popular in the UK.
Anyhoo, for dessert Janice had bought butter tarts for us, which were topped with fruit and nuts and were just delicious. To be honest I didn’t really pay much attention to what the tart was, I just know I enjoyed it.
When we got back home, one day I happened upon a Canadian cooking show on the television called ‘Best Recipes Ever’ where the host was making butter tarts. This time I paid more attention and discovered these were indeed a Canadian classic, but not full of butter as one might imagine. Instead they have a sugary, almost toffee like filling. Most common in the bottom of the tarts seem to be raisins and on occasion some pecans too.
Of course, I had to give them a go and I opted for a recipe, adapted from shebakeshere.com, which gave a ‘set’ filling rather than a runnier one, which is also quite acceptable.
I used both raisins and chopped pecans in mine and I loved the result of brown sugar, butter and egg, baked into a pastry shell. I used shop-bought pastry rather than make my own, but if you are so inclined….These didn’t look quite as professional as the ones Janice had bought for us, from her local baker, who have probably been making them for years. Nor did I top mine with berries or more nuts. Instead, we had them ‘as is’ and thoroughly enjoyed them.
Give this easy Canadian classic a try!
Canadian Butter Tartsby S Vettese November-30-2016Traditional Canadian baked good - sugar, butter, eggs with raisins and pecansIngredients
- 200 grams dark brown sugar
- 45 grams unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1 medium egg
- 30 grams pecans, chopped
- 30 grams raisins
- 1 sheet ready rolled shortcrust pastry
