Friday, November 10, 2006

raisins or no raisins, runny or firm?


butter tarts .... oh, butter & sugar baked into a perfect pastry shell, what could be better?

this little tart is probably one of the most canadian things i can think of when i think of canadian pastries. it should be noted it is an english canadian item where as la tarte au sucre is the french version, equally as delicious if not addictive. it is something i can say i truly love — but, BIG but, i think they are best without raisins [which in my opinion seem to pollute many a recipe for this little delicacy].

the buttertart shell is unique itself. it is ruffled and somewhat thick but always flaky & buttery.

here is an example of it, taken from wikipedia.


the cbc [our national radio station] did a radio interview with food writer marion kane, artist charles pachter and writer max burnes about this uniquely canadian pastry. if you click on the link you can hear the very interesting short interview & discussion about its culinary origin and history and its significance in english canadian history.

* * * * *

et voici, a variety of recipes for these little tarts for you to try your hand at. you won't regret it.

here is a recipe for maple pecan butter tarts with a sweet pastry dough.

or

maple butter tarts with currants from food tv [recipe & photo]


even more decadent [don't faint] is the one for caramel butter tarts. i NEED to make these {minus the currants; anna olson's recipes are always fantastic}! make sure you look!!

an additional beautiful recipe is available here


check out vixxxen's recipe box for more canadian goodies.

5 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

They look very interesting. I'll have to go deeper into the subject ;-P...

Cheryl said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm my favourite sweet treat ever! Darn you, burekaboy, I am undone! Now I'm going to have to fall off my diet wagon (and take time off writing) to make a batch ... Grandma's recipe is around here somewhere.

(Thanks for your good-writing wishes!)

Cheryl

Anonymous said...

I love it when the sugar crystallizes a little bit at the bottom (usually a day after baking - if they last that long). And regarding the raisins - I take my buttertarts any way I can get them (which means only when I visit Canada). Yum, yum yum!

burekaboy — said...

scott - these are quite simple to make and worth the effort. interestingly, i think their origins are british [SCOTTish, (hehe) to be exact].

rosa - listen to the interview, i think you'd like it.

ostara - lol, i think you deserve it after all that hard, brainy work!! ;p at least, it's not the booze wagon you've fallen off. get granny's recipe out!

aja - never had one sit around long enough to experience the crystallization effect. that's the problem with these small things — unless, of course, you are doing big batch baking. re: raisins, squishy things in a perfect pool of baked butter & sugar is WRONG! LOL.

Anonymous said...

Hey BB,
Try soaking the raisins in rum first before putting them in the tarts - they almost start to melt, so they aren't squishy bits of stuff to get caught in your teeth and don't disturb the perfect zen of sugar and butter ...