The first homemade sweet treat I was aware of was the Butter Tart. More sugars than butter, but buttery-smooth all the same. I was amazed years later, to discover it was virtually unknown in the rest of the world. And I’ve been trying to fix that omission…
Yes…. It’s one food that – along with Poutine and Tourtière – can claim to be authentically Canadian without anybody disagreeing. But beware of cheap knock-offs!
What they REALLY are…
“Butter tarts are believed to have originated in Ontario, Canada. A 1900 Ontario cookbook contains the earliest known written recipe for butter tarts.” the Masterclass.com treatise on this unequalled treat relates.
“They can also be found in Michigan near the Canadian border. A similar treat known as the ‘border tart’ exists in Scotland’s culinary tradition as well.”
Well, I CAN tell you, without fear of contradiction, that the Butter Tart DID come out of ancient Scottish culinary traditions. The way it travelled from my Mom’s Scottish clan to Dad’s English family is ample proof of the process.
The REAL recipe…
There’s a right way and a wrong way to make every dish. And since industrial bakeries (which dump their substandard goods in supermarket bread departments) started to adapt the old, original formula for the Butter Tart, the product many folks know has drifted many leagues from home.
What a REAL Butter Tart MUST have…
A real Butter Tart must have certain ingredients that store-bought ones rarely include. I will excuse from that horde the BTs made by small, one-off bakeries and artisan bakers, which probably will have the full complement of correct ingredients.
Commercially made Butter Tarts often use Corn Syrup as their base rather than lots of brown sugar and the eggs called for in the authentic recipe. They probably use some other oil or fat than real butter. Which is nothing less than a sin. And the commercial pretenders rarely include real maple syrup. Unless they bill themselves as ‘Maple Butter Tarts’, which is a bogus concept from the outset, a clear redundancy, and a cultural abomination.
My Mom’s Mom always said, you must use lard in your Butter Tart crust. And it must be a thick crust, carefully folded and crimped to fit into the tart tin.
My take
DO refrigerate dough as instructed in the Masterclass recipe.
DO bake the tarts at 425 F as instructed in the Masterclass recipe.
DO wait until the tarts are cooled to room temperature before attempting to remove them from the pan. Don’t ask why. Just take my word for this…
DO enjoy the best darned Butter Tart you – or anyone else – ever tasted!
~ Maggie J.