Award-Winning Butter Tarts Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

Why are my butter tarts so runny? ›

Butter tarts that are runny may be underbaked or may not contain enough egg. Eggs help thicken and stabilize butter tart filling while it bakes, which is why I've included two whole eggs in my recipe to ensure the filling is thick and fully set once baked.

Purists say true butter tarts should not contain raisins or nuts. For Currie and March of Wasaga Beach, Ont., they have to have raisins. Some like runny fillings, some firm. Some like thick pastry shells while others like thin so the filling stars.

Like many legendary dishes, the butter tart's origins are fuzzy. It's believed that filles à marier (“marriageable girls”) created a crude version in the 1600s. These newly arrived Québécois brides filled their French tarts with New World ingredients: maple sugar, freshly churned butter and dried fruit such as raisins.

White Vinegar - Some say vinegar is added to prevent the sugar from crystallizing. Others say the acidity of the vinegar helps to cut the sweetness of the tarts. Raisins - I use raisins, but you could also use nuts; pecans or walnuts are common.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

There are four main types of tarts: fruit tarts, custard tarts, chocolate tarts, and savory tarts.

Once you've successfully got it in there, you can relax and let it bake for 20-30 minutes. You will know the tart is done when you can gently nudge the tin and the mix wobbles like set jelly.

These buttery mini pies, typically baked in a muffin tin, have a flaky crust filled with a gooey mixture of butter, sugar, syrup, egg, and sometimes raisins or nuts. They bear some resemblance to the American pecan pie and British treacle tart, but their uniquely rich flavor sets them apart.

The History Of The Butter Tart

' Butter tarts were common in Canadian pioneer cooking. The earliest published recipe for a butter tart is from Barrie, Ontario dating back to 1900 in the Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Another early published recipe was found in a 1915 pie cookbook.

What are the flavors of butter tarts? ›

From classic favourites like traditional butter, pecan, and raisin to unique variations like chocolate hazelnut, salted caramel, and coconut, there's a butter tart for every palate.

Butter tarts are indeed a popular Canadian pastery. The phrase butter tart, as used in the song, is also slang for a woman's parts.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, butter tarts are a result of the filles du roi, or the King's Daughters, who were young French women sent to Quebec in the 17th century.

Scrape the remains of the jar in a saucepan with a little water and mash until smooth. Boil until the mixture reaches 104C, then spoon into the baked tart cases and leave to cool. If your jam was somewhat runny to begin with, the addition of a little liquid pectin, such as Certo, and sugar to taste will help it set.

They're too wet, and really greasy, but can be cooked to crispiness but won't have the right texture and it will be hard to reproduce the time of baking. This is also possible if you don't have enough flour, also making the dough too high in butter.

Very soft, difficult-to-mould pastry: Either too little flour or too much water or fat was used, the pastry was not kneaded together until smooth or the pastry was still too hot and soft to roll out (to remedy this, allow to stand or knead gently for 1–2 minutes).

Adding too much liquid to the dough will only make it too soft, which won't give you a flaky and crispy crust. Before rolling the dough, it should be chilled to let the gluten relax. I recommend chilling the dough for about an hour. If chilled longer, it becomes too stiff to work easily.