Canada’s Queen of Tarts

Here is my recipe for but­ter tarts as dis­cussed on my Food Sleuth report on Q with Jian Ghome­shi on CBC Radio One which aired June 29, 2009.

The fol­low­ing are the two best but­ter tarts I found after much sleuthing in Toronto and vicinity:

Dianna Weirmier’s amaz­ingly deli­cious tarts sold at the Strat­ford Farm­ers Mar­ket in Strat­ford, Ont., open on Sat­ur­days from 7 am until noon and Wednes­days from 3 to 7 pm.

The tarts at Queen’s Bush Bistro on Main St., in Mount For­est, Welling­ton County, Ont.

Well-known Cana­dian artist and but­ter tart afi­cionado Charles Pachter cites the tarts at Wilkie’s Bak­ery in Oril­lia, Ont., as his long­time favourites.

But­ter Tarts

Adapted from The Com­plete Cana­dian Liv­ing Cook­book (Ran­dom House), this pro­duces the best home-made but­ter tart I’ve tried: flaky, melt-in-the mouth pas­try with a gooey but not too runny fill­ing. And they’re a cinch to make.

Use proper bak­ing method for dry ingre­di­ents: mea­sur­ing scoops or spoons and a knife to slice off the top, not a mea­sur­ing cup.

You can make dough in a food proces­sor instead of by hand. I found a 28-oz/796-mL can works per­fectly for cut­ting it into rounds.

I like maple syrup in the fill­ing; it tastes great and fits the all-Canadian theme. Sub­sti­tute coarsely chopped nuts, e.g. pecans, for raisins, if desired.

Pas­try:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
¼ cup cold but­ter, cubed
¼ cup cold lard or veg­etable short­en­ing, cubed
I large egg yolk
I tsp white vine­gar
¼ cup ice-cold water

Fill­ing:
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup maple or golden corn syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp white vine­gar or lemon juice
2 tbsp soft­ened but­ter
Pinch of salt
¼ to ½ cup raisins

Pre­heat oven to 375F.

For pas­try, com­bine flour and salt in large bowl. Using old-fashioned wire pas­try cut­ter or two knives, cut in but­ter and lard until mix­ture resem­bles coarse crumbs. Using fork, stir in egg yolk, vine­gar and water until dough holds together. Wrap; refrig­er­ate at least 1 hour.

For fill­ing, vig­or­ously whisk together all ingre­di­ents except raisins in medium bowl until com­bined. (This can be done in food processor.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured sur­face until fairly but not too thin. Using 4-inch/10 cm round cookie cut­ter or empty 28-oz/796-mL can, cut into 12 rounds to fit 3-inch/8 cm cups of muf­fin tin. Divide raisins between each pas­try shell; spoon on filling.

Bake in oven 15 to 18 min­utes or until pas­try is golden brown. Cool in pan about 2 min­utes. Run knife or small metal spat­ula around edge of each tart; trans­fer to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 but­ter tarts.

To hear the 1991 Peter Gzowski “What makes a great but­ter tart?” inter­view with Mar­ion, Charles Pachter and Max Burns, click here.