Butter Tarts: The Easter Maker

Cher Pickle:


Well, this is the kinda challenge guaranteed to put a grin on the face of a small town Ontario gal! Butter tarts are kinda just burned into the DNA, aren’t they? In my case an appreciation for the tart is sandwiched right between the gene that allows me to find a Pepsi anywhere within a two-mile area and the gene that assures I am quite decent at a game of catch, even if years have elapsed since the last one. (We will leave the gene which gives me a genuine appreciation for the Jell-o salad for another day.)

Just right off the top I will declare my rules. Not ‘preferences’, rules. Tarts must be made in a muffin tin, not any kind of tart tin, which makes them too delicate and ultimately pretentious. In this case, even though I enjoy a soft pastry on a pie, the pastry must be crispy. And there must be NOTHING other than delicious goo in the middle of the tart. No raisins, nuts, coconut, currants, extraneous pastry cut-outs. NOTHING. Part of this preference is due to the fact that I come down very firmly on the side of runny (hee). One bite should send the filling pouring down your fingers and off your elbow. You should be consumed with panic at the thought of missing one delicious drop. Fillings just dam up the flow and distract from the delightful gooeyness of it all. My favourite kind of butter tart almost makes an argument for being eaten with a spoon – although you cannot, that’s another rule, but it should be tempting.

My current cookbook collection is decidedly lacking in a good butter tart recipe – most of the older vintage books are still in boxes after our recent move. (What do you mean fourteen months ago doesn’t count as ‘recent’?) But I do have to say that I TOO love the Five Roses cookbook and was excited to hear that you use it – if only I’d been able to locate it in the basement! It contains the ONLY correct recipes in the world for both peanut butter cookies and pineapple upside-down cake. (Although I am a little freaked out by the butchering diagrams, something that has bothered me since childhood. I think maybe reading the Five Roses is when I first realized that meat came from animals.)

Anyway, speaking of lard, I got a pastry recipe here at Home & Country magazine. It’s quite a good one - rest assured, though, no lard. I felt instinctively that the tablespoon of icing sugar was right. Also the bit of vinegar. Although, of course, I had to replace half the shortening with butter. That’s how I get down. But it did feel specifically like a pastry for butter tarts, which is a nice thing.

Agree with you completely on the surprising ease of making tarts. I don’t make them often because they seem fussy in my head – but in fact they are in some ways easier than a pie crust because you don’t have to fuss with a perfect circle or creating a large area at exactly the same thickness. Maybe the muffin tin makes this still easier because there is no fluting or forking required!

So I made the crust the day before Easter and went to make the filling the morning of. But with family coming over soon, I couldn’t devote the time needed to finding the perfect filling recipe. I felt like I wanted a little actual MAPLE in my tarts. (Does that make them into Tarte au Sucre instead? Are you no longer my friend? Did I go too twee with the Canada theme here?) So I went with this recipe from Canadian Living magazine, which seemed an a propos source. To their credit, they said it was 'custardy' right from the top...

In the interest of family harmony, I did hold my nose and add nuts to a few (for my mom) and raisins to a few others (for Mr. Salty). I left half of them straight up for my dad and I, who know how to eat things properly.

There was a minor squabble when my mother, alone in the kitchen, ate one that got stuck in the tin and tried to blame the transgression on my completely innocent dad. But otherwise the harmony was indeed preserved. After an Easter dinner, they may have been a less-than-traditional dessert, but they were delicious. And we were glad.

However, I still feel the need to make a proper runny batch because these weren’t it - and now there's an itch which must be scratched!!! I think I will use this crust recipe again but I may have to forego my maple pref. Will report back when/if my real butter tart itch gets scratched!

xxx
G

PS - The pictures are of only one tart - because that's all that was left!!! Must learn to unabashedly take pics before serving food...