This, being the month of Christmas, a holiday celebrated among 160 of the 195 countries that make up this planet, I’ve decided to do a monthly installment of how different countries around the world celebrate this special holiday in their kitchens and feature their signature holiday meals. Some may be sides, some may be mains, maybe a dessert or two, some may be a complete dinner. Only time will tell by which country my girls have randomly pulled out of Santa’s hat.
When my daughter pulled out Canada from Santa’s hat, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I have heard my Canadian friend, Martin, rave (and rant) about these tarts. Doing a quick search on his Facebook history, he also shares what makes a good one: it must have raisins (I asked him this the other day), it must make your eyes roll back into your head; and what constitutes a bad one: shouldn’t suck pleasure from your soul, shouldn’t be fussed with and presented in a deconstructed manner, and adding nuts “is an abomination”. You may be able to tell why Martin and I get along so well. While we are both somewhat wallflowers at parties, we have very strong feelings about food and will let our critiques fly on social media.
I am a fan of sweets. I have been known to house an entire dozen Krispy Kremes in less than 30 minutes and demolish a sleeve of Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies before you could ask “would you like some milk?” But, I have met my match. I struggled as I swallowed my second butter tart. Don’t get me wrong, these are so fucking delicious. It’s just they are very sweet. It’s like the best cinnamon toast you could ever imagine with a lava-cake like gooey, melted Werther’s Original in the center, encased in a buttery, flaky crust. Trust me, I wish I could eat more. But, you should have insulin at-the-ready if you have 3 in less than 10 minutes...but it’s been about 30 minutes, so I’m going for my third after I post this recipe!
Butter Tart
(Tags: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Baking, Dessert, Canada)
I’m not a pastry master and didn’t want to risk ruining these on my first attempt, so I chickened out and went with store-bought pastry.
1 box (2 sheets) of frozen pre-made puff pastry, thawed
⅓ cup of raisins
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups brown sugar
¾ tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, softened
Preheat your oven to 425 and soak the raisins in warm water to rehydrate.
Using a large cookie cutter, or the rim of a 28 oz can of tomatoes/fruit (alton Brown would be proud of my ingenuity), cut rounds out of the dough. Rework the dough, and roll and cut until you have 12 rounds. Place the cut dough rounds into a standard muffin tin, making cups. Be sure to push the dough to the bottom and the corners. Set the pan in the fridge to help the worked dough rest.
Meanwhile, lightly beat your eggs with the vanilla in a small bowl. In a separate, medium-sized bowl stir the brown sugar and salt together. Then, using your hands, work the butter into the sugar/salt mixture until no large clumps remain. Stir in the egg and vanilla mixture until smooth.
Remove your muffin tin from the fridge and carefully pour the batter into the cups, about half way up. Don’t overfill as this will lead to spillovers and not make for a good butter tart.
Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 16 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Then, run an offset spatula or butter knife around the tarts before carefully removing.
_____________________________________________ Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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