Canadian Maple Butter Tarts
When I was a kid, my Canadian Grandmother and Aunts always made butter tarts. Holidays, birthdays, funerals, anytime we were visiting, etc. At least, that's what I remember. They were always baking them. And they were fantastic.So, I got the urge to make them this Christmas season as part of my quest to learn how to make a decent pie crust. I landed on a recipe I really like and it is as follows:
Crust
I used my 3-2-1 Pie Crust recipe to make the tart shells. Once the dough is rolled out very thin, I used a 4" round cookie cutter to cut the tart shells and put them in the muffin tin to be used for baking the tarts.
Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) pure maple syrup (Grade B)
1 egg
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, softened
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 tsp (5 mL) vinegar
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup (60 mL) currants
1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped walnuts
Filling Preparation
In bowl, whisk together brown sugar, maple syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt until blended; set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie crust dough to 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness. Using 4-inch (10 cm) round cookie cutter (or empty 28 oz/796 mL can), cut out 12 circles, rerolling scraps once if necessary. Fit into 2-3/4- x 1-1/4-inch (7 x 3 cm) muffin cups. Divide currants and walnuts among shells. Spoon in filling until three-quarters full.
Bake in bottom third of 450 F (230 C) oven until filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden, about 12 minutes. Let stand on rack for 1 minute. Run metal spatula around tarts to loosen; carefully slide spatula under tarts and transfer to rack to let cool.
Eating
These butter tarts pair nicely with a fine Calvados!
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