Butter Tarts

Yesterday I made Passion Fruit Curd and Lemon Curd Tarts, but I had a disaster with the video.  So although I posted the recipe on this blog I couldn’t post the video on Youtube.  So I decided to make something else today, just to get something on Youtube.  I decided upon a suggestion from my sister in Canada, Butter Tarts.  These seem to be a Canadian invention, and are similer to Treacle Tart in the UK, except that in the latter breadcrumbs are included in the filling. 

The recipe for the pastry is a sort of flaky pastry and it really quite easy to make.  Then the filling has syrup and butter as the main constituents.  However the syrup is more usually maple syrup or corn syrup.  For mine I used golden syrup, which is a big favourite of mine for baking. 

The tarts themselves usually have a rather rustic look, as the pastry gets wrinkled as it goes into the muffin tin.  So, rather than try to flatten it out and make everything look pretty I kept with the wrinkly look. Although you can make these without any additions you often find pecans, walnuts, or sultanas added.  I opted for sultanas.  They are also a very moist, or wet, tart.  The caramel must be completely cool in order for it to firm up a little.  Even so they can be a little runny, but very delicious indeed.

Having watched videos of the tart being made I noticed that they rise and form a dome as they bake.  But that dome then sinks as they cool down.  So I was happy to see that mine did exactly that.

After letting them cool completely I took them out of muffin tin and ate one.  I must say they have a great flavour, like caramel, with the delicious flaky pastry and then some sultanas too they are very good indeed.

This recipe is enough for 6 tarts, so you can double it if you want to fill a muffin tin.

• 150g plain flour
• 113g cold butter
• 30g egg
• 13g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cold water

For the filling:

• 82g soft light brown sugar
• 66g melted butter
• 1 medium egg(large in USA)
• 1/2 white vinegar
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 125g golden syrup(or maple syrup or corn syrup)
• 30g sultanas( or chopped pecans and walnuts)

Method:

1. Lightly grease six holes of a muffin tin.
2. In a bowl place the flour, salt and sugar and mix to combine.
3. Add the butter and toss around to coat.
4. Cut the butter into the flour until you have a rough texture, with the butter still in little lumps.
5. Whisk egg and water together and add into the bowl.
6. Mix in until a dough is forming.  Don’t overmix, maybe use your hand to pull it together.
7. Form the dough into a log and wrap in plastic wrap, then chill for an hour.
8. Cut the log into 6 pieces and roll each one out until it is about 4’5- 5 inches in diameter. ( I used a four inch cookie cutter and then rolled a little more)
9. Place each disc of pastry into a hole in the muffin tin, leaving the wrinkles in place.
10. Place the muffin tin in the fridge to chill whilst making the filling.
11. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/400 F.
12. Place the melted butter, syrup and sugar into a bowl and whisk to fully combine.
13. Add the egg, vanilla and vinegar together and whisk, then pour into the butter mixture.
14. Whisk again until everything is fully combined and quite liquid.
15. Fill each tart case almost to the top.
16. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 190C/170C Fan/375F.
17. The tarts will dome as they bake.  When the time is up remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.  Use a knife or small spatula to run around the edge to make sure nothing is sticking before removing. It is important to make sure they are completely cool, so that the filling has time to ‘set up’ as it will be very moist.